Aphelion
by loveyournightmare
Summary: The era of Jedi and Sith found its demise in two bleeding hearts, a pale boy and a feisty girl who loved each other through the pain. "We are never going to be more than this, so don't waste the opportunity to use my help." "More than this? Rey asked. "It's easy to risk your life for someone you love. What about someone you hate, but would still die for?" Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The myth didn't live up to her expectations.

Rey lost count of how many times she sneaked up to the cantina at Niima outpost. just to listen to the legends of the past.

"Luke Skywalker," the name that passed from one drunken lips to another stirred something in her. True, she was but a wayward urchin then, invisible and alone. Rey didn't expect to carry that solitude to the legendary man standing in front of her.

Ever since he glanced at the lightsaber, her mouth remained parched with thousand questions. He answered none.

"There's a great conflict within you. You have come too late," he said. Rey's outstretched hand dropped instantly. The metallic weapon burned her as it did the last time she wielded it. No, the memories of her opponent were brightly seared into her mind. The sword was but an instrument of that rage.

"I'm not going to beg you," Rey stepped back," but it is true. You're the only hope we have if the Resistance is to succeed."

She felt vulnerable; like a deer in the headlights when Luke Skywalker circled around her. She heard her own heartbeat and the swishing of his robes on the verdant carpet. The whole island whispered to her, kept her amazed.

"Stop it," she pulled further back.

"You've been mind probed before?" He asked.

" _Don't be afraid, I feel it too."_ She blinked, unsure whether the words were uttered now or in the past.

"I mean no harm," Luke spread-out his hand before her distorted face.

"NO!" Rey put every ounce of energy she had to block his attack. Luke withdrew abruptly. They both sat on the stone formations amidst the grass field. He studied her in his own way and she studied him.

"Remarkable," he noted. "You have bonded in Force in the ways only a Master and padawan usually do."

Rey frowned.

"Search not your mind, but your heart. You resisted the pull of something way stronger and alluring than I can offer you. You know in your mind that coming to me is the right thing to do, but I've seen your heart. Deep within, you can't stop thinking about what would have happened had you said _Yes_."

Rey kept her gaze locked with the infinite azure canvas in front of her. The sky stretched far on the horizon. It reminded her of Jakku desert more than she was willing to admit. Beige changed to green and blue, but the isolation prevailed.

They didn't speak much that night. He offered her shelter and meal, but not the warmth of another's company. She missed her little droid friend, she missed Chewbacca who stayed on the ship. Why did she come here? This cool reception wasn't what she had envisioned at all.

"How peculiar," she thought," how the legendary Jedi refuses to give what _that_ man offered so willingly. "

Yes, Kylo Ren would show her the ways of the force. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became with herself. As much as she wanted to believe her refusal was the right thing to do, she couldn't.

After three days, Rey realized that the island wouldn't contain her restlessness. She took long walks around the coastline, only to encounter the stone and moss and never-ending grass. Luke Skywalker paid her as much heed as a tom cat or another pet that needed to be fed and clothed. She suspected this to be some kind of a test of determination.

"Just keep going, just persevere and he'll come around." Rey kept telling herself. She could do it on Jakku for fourteen years. What were three days, or weeks for that matter?

She took another walk while humid ocean breeze played with her stray hair. Why was it easier to wait on Jakku? Where did her patience go? She huffed and kicked a rock before her; then another and another.

She desired to drown this whole wretched island she had been dreaming about for so long.

Luke's silhouette lurked in the shadows of a large boulder behind her. She sensed nothing in her fit of rage. He knew she was giving in to the darker emotions of the Force. She was like an ice sculpture and he didn't want to touch her. He melted enough young minds, destroyed enough lives to ever try again. When he mind probed her, he felt the presence of his former student; he felt the emotion surging through her.

Ben had tempted her and she could have given in, but she didn't. That fact alone was a spark of hope for the old Master. Luke didn't want to train her because it was noble. Long gone were the days when he religiously followed the ancient Jedi code. The Jedi were no more. She was here, right now, already past her first true test.

"How long are you going to stand there?" She asked, ashamed. She had never behaved like this. Rey had to control her emotions at Niima outpost; otherwise Unkar wouldn't have tolerated her presence.

"Can't a teacher observe his pupil?" He asked bemused.

Rey's eyes widened. "You agree, then? Will you teach me the ways…" her breath hitched.

 _"…_ _the ways of the force_?" Luke finished the sentence for her.

Rey nodded.

"Yes." He offered his hand, just as she did before. This time, she took it. Eyes of her new Master reminded her of molten mercury. His gaze was luminescent and full of light, unlike the black pair that kept haunting her from the forest of Starkiller base.

"I will train you, but first, tell me everything."

And so she did.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **A/N Thank you for the feedback, guys. This is going to be a long fic, lot of angst and hopefully an original plot. Please review. :)**

The scar itched more when the intense sunlight grazed its surface. Kylo Ren would have given anything for the cooling presence of the Starkiller base. Coldness of space soothed him more than the orange glare of dusty Korriban. The ancient home planet of the Sith became the base of the First Order, just as the Supreme Leader Snoke commanded.

The legendary Sith Temple inspired young Master of Ren beyond his wildest dreams. The very steps he climbed were once graced by the likes of Naga Saddow and Marka Ragnos, overlords who put a dent into the Republic's armor. The columns towered hundreds of feet above. The rows of cloaked statues, forever silent, were observing the momentum, bringing out the former glory of the Sith Empire.

Ren heard footsteps behind him. The dwarfish pace betrayed the individual.

"Hux, how good of you to come. What is it?" Kylo intertwined his fingers behind the back of his dark robes.

Both men stared out of the Temple. Korriban heat reflected a mirage of shimmering glow at the bottom of the rocky surface.

"We shouldn't be hiding from the Rebel scum. Marooned at the Outer Rims on this forsaken antique graveyard…"

Ren's fingers curled into fists. He sighed inwardly, having had enough of the inept general. Hux kept rambling on, disrespecting this sacred place with every other word. Of course, he wouldn't get the importance and symbolism of it. The very Temple stood in the shade of ancient tombs of the Sith Lords that once reigned supreme. The whole galaxy trembled under the weight of their presence.

"You should visit the Valley of the Tombs, general. Maybe even pick a spot, just in case."

Hux, used to this saccharine banter, didn't register the weariness in Ren's tone.

"This planet did very little for me to inspire your zealous reverence, Ren. Yes, the Sith once stood strong, but that was millennia ago. The First Order surpasses everything and anything that came before it. The Supreme Leader requested your presence in the Holocron chamber." General smirked.

Ren was limping, still. His left foot had healed, but the pain remained. The shoulder, the scar on his face - all was so very fresh and ancient at the same time. He felt like he was born disfigured, only now his wounds took up a clear appearance.

The face of Supreme Leader reflected disgust and impatience. The creature once larger than life now seemed stilted, suppressed even. Or maybe Kylo's own perception had changed for the worse.

"Have you seen it yet?" Snoke's voice thundered in the obsidian chamber.

Ren shook his head.

"You're distracted and undisciplined. The vision shall come to you only when your mind is clear of all distractions. I am not telling you this in vain, my Apprentice."

Ren kneeled in shame. "I feel stronger here, Master. I truly do, but… if only I could descend down into the Tombs, maybe the presence of our forbearers would guide me."

The silence cut through the room and Kylo's head remained down. He didn't dare to gaze up, for it might be his destiny he would see.

"No," Snoke snuffed his hope," I told you that you don't need help from corpses. I have lived long enough to see that every great Lord of the Sith is great only in his own mind. That's why their Empire crumbled. Both the Jedi and the Sith have more in common than they realize."

Ren's heart skipped a beat. He stood up.

"Yes, "Snoke mirrored Ren's gesture and his hologram moved up from his throne. "I know what we have to do to be victorious. The Force craves balance, it desires it above all. Kill a Jedi, the Sith loose the sight of what is truly important. If you eradicate the Sith, the Jedi pollute the Force. It's a constant cycle."

"What then, Supreme Leader? Is there no way to master it all?"

"The balance of the Force doesn't lie in the Sith hatred or the Jedi peace nonsense. Both are equally wrong, destined to battle each other till they cancel each other out again. One can't ever wield it all. One will always fail, be reborn and try again."

Kylo Ren followed the radiant hologram of Snoke's disfigured form out of the Obsidian Chamber. The sun had set on Korriban, tangerine glow died out and the fires lit in front of the statues. They still maintained the ancient ways, the fire represented the passion of the Sith.

"I should have killed the girl," Ren said dispassionately.

"Indeed you should have. Why didn't you?"

"The Force guided me. It whispered to me, pleaded me to let her live."

Snoke stopped in front of a massive marble statue in the middle, no different from any other in the Hall. "Do you know why the Sith chose Korriban as their home planet?"

"No."

Snoke's voice echoed to the high ceiling," It is so isolated and so abandoned, that one single planet creates a whole Horuset system; just this one planet and its seven Moons. The Republic overlooked it in the past, with their elaborate star systems and Inner territories. Meanwhile, Korriban stood still, watching, waiting in the shadows. "

Ren understood. He was to be waiting patiently, but the doubt he felt crippled him.

"What if I fail and the vision never comes to me? What then, Master?" Kylo asked.

"Skywalker is training her as we speak. There's not much that can be done about it now, Ren. "

The warmth of the torches penetrated Ren's mind. He closed his eyes and suddenly, he saw. "You want him to succeed!" He raised his voice, almost insulted. "How is that possible? If he trains her…"

"Yes," Snoke said," I want him to train her and plant the seed within her. He may sow, but the harvest will be ours. I want him to try and fail again. When the time comes, you will have a role to play in this, Ren."

The hologram gradually faded until the blue glow disappeared completely, leaving puzzled Kylo Ren alone in the dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once there, Rey stopped dreaming about the island and the ocean. Now, she dreamt of metal buildings larger than any structure she had ever seen. The citizens were so manifold and so colorful, her own human race seemed dull; an insult to the variety of that world.

Strong wind currents pounded against her body, thousands of flying ships cut the skyline. She stood in awe of it all.

"Reyata," a deep, soft voice called this strange form of her name. As she was about to turn, she felt a hard hit in the ribcage. Rey found herself on the floor of Luke's dwelling; once again pulled from these strange visions. The more dreams progressed, the more she hated waking up.

"Then what happened?" Master Luke asked as he poured her a cup of hot, syrupy liquid. The taste mellowed Rey's palate. She swallowed hungrily. She still wasn't used to food she didn't have to risk limbs for.

"Then I woke up…" she said pensively, ignoring beeping of BeeBee Eight in the corner. "It's always the same. I can see the city; I can taste the metallic flavor of that atmosphere. Once my name is called, I lose the vision. "

Luke smiled at her interpretation. "It's not a vision, Rey. It's a memory."

Rey shook her head and grabbed her staff. "I've never been in a city like that." She said in a tone that ended their discussion on the subject. The day simply beckoned them to train outside. Luke wouldn't let her go near the lightsaber again, even though she had bested an opponent before.

"No, we'll start with the reflexes – your staff will suffice for now," he smiled.

Just as well, she thought. The staff and she became inseparable on Jakku and that lightsaber didn't call to her as before. In fact, it was mute and dead now.

"You'll have to attune your fighting style to the rhythm of the Force. Listen to your body and tell me what you hear."

Rey's grip of the staff tightened. At first she heard nothing except the background noise of the island. The birds chirping in the distance, the ocean crashing down on the reef; then somewhere else, humming of her little droid friend came to her.

Her sweaty hand slid down. Rey broke her concentration. "I can't hear anything," she said grimly.

Luke sensed great distress in her. "You're still wondering, how it is possible that you defeated that man in the forest, aren't you?"

"I had nothing," she sighed," no training, no idea what I was doing. I felt something guiding me… "Rey stopped mid-sentence. No, she couldn't possibly tell her new Master the truth. She was too ashamed of it. Something volatile kept her going during that fight, a dark presence that she never felt before.

Luke meditated long and hard that day. He knew - naturally, he could read her emotions. All of a sudden, the temperature around him dropped. His breath came out as a tangible, opalescent mist. This could only mean one thing.

"Master, I don't know if I am worthy of this." Luke kept his eyes closed. Even now, he was afraid the Force was deceiving him.

The voice that spoke filled him with utter calm and happiness. "Luke, it is not about you and your worth. My friend, you have been given this opportunity for a reason. The Force guided this woman to you not once, but twice, and you must train her. "Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force ghost was more resplendent than Luke had ever witnessed. Maroon Jedi robes cloaked him in his former glory, his eyes twinkled and his face was young and smooth. Gone was the old Ben Kenobi, young Obi-Wan stood strong with the Force.

"You must tell her the truth of her birth," Obi-Wan answered the question in Luke's mind.

Luke's hands trembled. "It will poison her. The knowledge where she came from and who her family is will corrupt her, I know it." His voice was almost pleading.

"You're afraid that the history will repeat itself. She must know. Otherwise, the seed of doubt will grow stronger in the future. She will suffer for it."

Their time was up. Luke's joints started to ache; his breathing got more laborious. Maintaining such a strong connection to the Force was difficult when his mind was in turmoil.

Yet, days passed and he still didn't confront Rey. Her dreams varied more. Sometimes she saw sleeping Finn back on D'Qar – the base of Resistance – just as she left him. She had no news of Finn or General Organa, but she felt their presence in the Force. They were alive and well. But then, the other dream would come - the one and only. The city in the clouds enveloped her. The metallic smoke kept rising from the ashes of the skyscrapers. Her name, whispered from darkness, invited her to learn something, to see someone.

One of Ach-To's three moons cycled the planet. Rey realized that one month had passed since her arrival. She stopped scratching the markings on the wall as she did back on her desert planet. Both she and her Master fell into comfortable monotony. He trained her physically in the morning and taught her to meditate at dusk. She felt the Force flow more freely through her mind, so much that she wondered how she could ever live without it. She saw the smallest particles of every drop in ocean. When the wind chimed, it echoed in her mind as a lullaby. There wasn't one butterfly in the sky; one flower in the meadow she didn't feel connected to.

One evening, a ship glistened on the horizon. Rey recognized the black and red paint of an X-wing fighter and cheered, when a familiar face stepped out of the cockpit.

"I'm Poe Dameron. We haven't had a chance to properly meet at the base, but I know all about you. It's very good to see you," tanned, dark-haired young pilot grinned and shook Rey's hand politely. She went for an awkward hug, but when she saw his hand, Rey's cheeks caught aflame. Poe laughed and embraced her fully.

Luke, on the other hand, wasn't keen on seeing the ace-wing here. Everything was a distraction for his padawan. Luke remembered that fateful moment when he recklessly abandoned Yoda on Dagobah and went to save his friends. Would he do it again? Would he really risk everything to save three lives, no matter how much he loved them? No, the answer his consciousness gave him was negative – and that terrified him. The raw mastery of the Force might have been the reason he had failed with his nephew.

Luke sighed as he accompanied Poe and Rey back to their dwelling. He questioned himself a thousand times before. What could he have done differently, what he should and shouldn't have said to Ben. That's why he had to tighten his grip on Rey and never let go. The Force gave him one last chance with this girl. Luke recalled when he saw her for the first time, barely six months old. Tall, hooded figure rocked the portable crib. Rey's hazel eyes followed Luke's gray ones.

"No," Luke whispered," I can't take her. I won't."

The figure pushed the crib further to Luke. "You can change her fate. Think of her future. How do you think her father would raise her? I know you can sense that she's extremely strong with the Force; maybe more so than your own father."

Chill went up Luke's spine at the mention of Anakin Skywalker. He shuddered and pushed the small cot away. "No. I will not risk it. She's submerged in the dark side of the Force and there she'll remain. It's not something I can change. The Force decided her heritage long before I could do anything about it."

The stranger's hand unhinged a lightsaber so fast, Luke barely blinked. Red glow fell on baby's face, scaring her.

"As you wish, Luke Skywalker. Remember this day, though. You don't want to train her as a Jedi - so be it," stranger's voice bore a sharp edge to it," but I swear that she shall wield a lightsaber one day. Don't be surprised when _you_ meet its fiery end."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **A/N Thank you for faves and follows :) Reylo scenes coming soon, I promise.**

"Aerial attack on the rebel base," Poe Dameron's shoulders heaved up and down," how original." His rich laughter filled the operating room of the Resistance Base on D'Qar. If they couldn't make light of the situation, the misery would consume them all.

General Leia Organa didn't share his enthusiasm. She forgot how to laugh, or eat, or dream for that matter. "I'm glad you find it amusing."

Poe swallowed, masking the rest of his howler with poorly imitated cough. "Anyway," he continued soberly," we have lost three X-wings. One is still reparable, though. Casualties on human lives are zero on our side."

Loud cheering and clapping boomed in the room, once again passing right through Leia's sore head. "What about the First Order?" She asked out of necessity than real interest.

"Thirteen TIE fighters went down. Given that they attacked with three times more than that, it's just a minor setback for the Order. In the end" Poe shrugged," we're still here, aren't 'we…"

Twi'lek nurse entered the Operating room. "How's Finn doing?" He perked up at the thought of his friend.

"He's awake and asking about you." The nurse smiled. Poe had to curb Finn's eagerness to go back on his feet. The injuries he sustained on Starkiller base healed quicker than anyone had anticipated.

"I can do it by myself," Finn cheered. He walked three languid steps across to Poe. He leaned on the smirking pilot and together, they paced the room.

"Not bad for someone whose spine holds together thanks to magnetic plate. Slow and steady, slow and steady," Finn repeated the mantra.

"You're doing great, really well! You'll be behind the blaster in no time."

Finn's crab walking came to a halt. Poe instantly regretted bringing this up. Talk of fighting brought back memories of the lightsaber duel, and that brought back the memories of _her_. The first night Finn woke up, he called Rey's name in a feverish dream. Half asleep, half awake, he screamed and talked of burning flesh and blazing rain in the sky.

Poe's gaze darkened. He couldn't imagine what the fight in the forest must have looked like. Kylo Ren, the man who fought them both, remained defeated by one.

"How could she do it though?" Finn pushed his tauntaun figure further, eclipsing Poe's Hutt on the game board.

"I don't know," Poe answered, unperturbed. "Well, she's a Force user, so that must have been pretty convenient."

Finn scratched his head. "No, that's not it. He slammed her against a tree, that bastard knocked her unconscious for good. Even if she woke up later, how could she defeat him?"

"I think we should be asking a different question. How come _he_ didn't finish her off first? The man tortured me, trust me – he's not the one to take mercy on anyone in his way. If she lives, it's because he wanted her to."

They both ruminated on those events in their own way.

When the midnight came, Poe had to report to the obligatory staff meeting. Half of the staff was asleep, others joined because of insomnia, or to please their superiors. A single hologram transmitter dominated the centre of the room. Poe expected the usual routine - a report or confirmation of a target from another faction.

The air glowed blue.

Loud gasps pulled Dameron out of his hazed state. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say this isn't our usual transmission."

A menacing figure in crisply tailored black uniform stepped out of the floor. The hologram glare didn't diminish the fervor in his blue eyes.

"This is the message to all free people of Ileeneum system. Your Republic has crumbled. Five planets that sheltered the remnants of an outdated and corrupt government have perished under the reign of the First Order. The whole Hossnian system has been wiped out from this Galaxy."

Cold silence squeezed the breath out of Poe's lungs. The whole room was watching general Hux's icy glare. His jaw twitched viciously with every word he spewed.

"The First Order is just. The Hossnian system refused to cooperate and oppressed all free galactic subjects with their Republican propaganda. Their termination will not reflect on any remaining star systems."

Poe leaned closer in disbelief.

"However, the Ileeneum system harbors insurgents and rebel scum operating in the Outer Rim of the Galaxy. The First Order is just. We don't wish to annihilate another star system because of insurgent bases. I appeal to you, free people of Ileeneum system, deal with your rebels. Hunt them down and kill them all. Their base on planet D'Qar is a den of murderers, traitors and saboteurs. For each confirmed kill, there is a reward beyond your imaginings. For each base that is destroyed, you will share a taste of victory. The First Order will dominate this Galaxy. We will crush the Rebels and restore peace and unity to all star systems. "

Ten large digits blinked on the screen. Poe's nails dug deep into the seat. The exact location of their base flashed on the screen in front of billions of eyes.

"All neighboring star systems just received an open invitation to feast on our guts," Poe said dryly. This one sentence broke the ice. The panic ensued. Pilots, lieutenants and analysts engaged in a shouting match all at once.

General Organa entered the room. Poe met her gaze. "What would you have us do?" He asked calmly.

"I…We either fight or we flee. There is no other way." She replied stoically. "The last thing I want is to endanger innocent planets by relocating there. It's dangerous, no matter where we go."

Poe nodded, but stood his ground. "I agree. But don't forget who will be hunting us now. The bounty hunters and all the opportunists will come at us at once. They have the address, but they won't come knocking gently. They'll pick us apart, one by one. They'll torture the captives."

The whole room remained silent, reluctantly accepting very real possibility of this scenario.

Poe continued. "Someone will talk. Then, the Hunters will catch _Falcrom_ unit, then _Hespa_ faction, and one after another, the Resistance is over before we even begin to fight."

Leia looked around the room. All eyes and ears were fixated on Poe.

She raised her chin. "Do you recall the exact location BeeBee droid gave us? You've seen it long enough to navigate to him. Take the other droid, this R2 unit is old but very reliable. He will guide you safely to Luke Skywalker."

Poe Dameron nodded and rushed to gear up for the crucial journey.

"You have been gone long enough, Luke" Leia whispered to herself. Han's death took everything from her. If it only wasn't her own son who murdered Han; she could have picked up the pieces faster. She got lost, like a child in the dark forest. She was used to being alone, but this felt like an utter nothingness. There was no hand to stroke her hair; no words of comfort.

Without Ben, the First Order wouldn't stand a chance. The Resistance could battle the machines and stormtroopers. But he was with them, no matter how much she denied it in her head. With Snoke at the helm and her boy as an anchor, the dark side speared its way ahead.

"You take it personally, the love for our son clouds your judgment," Han used to tell her. Leia knew that this was the battle of the Force, not blasters and X wings. Ben Solo steered the balance of the Force towards the darkness. Hundreds of pilots, generals and rebels would fight in vain. She alone understood that fact, she and one other in the entire Galaxy – her brother.

"Too long have I stood by myself," she closed her eyes in the darkness of her quarters."Too long have your absence haunted my fight, brother. Come back to me, come back and we can finish what _he_ started."

She felt the Force imprint of her own son, her little boy with dark hair and peevish smile. Was that the face Han saw? Eyes too brooding for his age; face too ordinary to be given second glance – that was the child she had brought to this world.

General Organa could rarely afford to show emotions. Now, she was only Leia. She wept long and hard, clutching the tiny children's replica of Alderaan. She saw what she had lost. She failed Ben, not her brother. Luke was the gracious one, always willing to give second chances left and right. Even after she learnt who their father was, she never saw him as a human being.

Not Luke, though. He redeemed Darth Vader. He saved them all. He forgave and guided the most damned soul in the Galaxy to light. What could she do alone? Nothing, when Luke's calm hand of reason wasn't there to guide her. She brought down the Empire, yet she felt helpless against her son.

"I need you here," she sobbed and pictured Luke with little Ben's hand in his own.

Seven parsecs away, Rey's eyes flew open as she heard her name spoken in a dream. She turned around, and this time, she saw the one who called.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kylo Ren's footsteps echoed in ubiquitous orange clay. The Valley of the Dark Lords cast an ominous shadow over his imposing form. Giant rift in the ground opened its mouth and swallowed all the glory of former Sith Lords. Battle depictions and massive statues adorned the tombs set in stone.

Ren sought solace in these crypts, hoping it would provide him with guidance. He entered a random shrine with a magnificent statue of a horned man. Ren's black robes swept the dust whirling in gentle plumes around his ankles. His eyes adjusted to the painful transition from scorching sun to the gloom.

He closed them completely and submerged into his own world. Flashes and images, chaotic at first, took on more pronounced shape. He tuned into the charge of the Force; immersed with electricity known only to the most sensitive of beings. His mind was frantically looking for the girl.

He pictured her shape and eyes with no luck. The insignificant girl from desert junkyard had the Force.

"What do we do with those who pollute the Force field?" Supreme Leader Snoke asked him.

"We punish them." Ren recited ardently.

She didn't deserve to be trained in the ways of the Force. Not by anyone else, but him. His own voice betrayed him when that offer came out of his mouth. Would he have kept his promise and trained her? Would he have struck her down once she had yielded her weapon?

He felt currents of energy shaping more distinct forms in his mind. The island… the ocean was the key. He had to find her, but how?

"Foolish little girl." He murmured softly. "If you only didn't tempt fate and stopped this foolishness right now, you might live, still."

His Knights of Ren did slaughter all the remaining Jedi they crossed paths with; but untrained Force sensitive people were usually shown leniency. Knights would cast them to the most forgotten regions of the Outer Rim and Slaver's Belt.

"Few have the time to ponder the mysteries of the Force, when they cower under their master's whips," Supreme Leader said, approving of this Kylo's unique strategy.

They were all slaves to the Force – those who could use it balanced on the brink of madness and death. The image popped into his mind, a sweet melody of a child's voice. He saw sand falling through the girl's fingers, streaked with hot tears. He concentrated on darker emotions within her, this unknown enigma.

"You will find her through the deepest emotions known to man – love and hate. Search my Apprentice, the Force will guide you." Snoke's voice entered this private domain of his.

Ren opened his eyes and quickly stumbled backwards. Gone was the arid landscape of Korriban, no longer did he kneel in the Valley of Fallen Lords.

He saw a waterfall in the sea of greenery and under the waterfall, there was _the girl_. She was sitting underneath the starry sky in a white dress illuminated by two Moons. White lily petal was floating above her open palm. Her mouth formed an O shape in pure childlike awe of the Force. The very fact that she _could_ do something like that hadn't yet sunk in.

She must have been signing, because the most soothing melody Ren had ever heard filled his ears. He came closer. She failed to notice him. With lips sealed and eyes fixated on the waterfall, this woman reminisced of her past. Kylo stood astounded. The girl didn't sing – it was the tune of the pure Force he heard in her presence!

He found her through the intense love she was feeling at that very moment. Whomever she loved, he had no idea. He learnt she had no family when he mind probed her. How could a girl love no one? Maybe she felt so strongly about that single flower; perhaps she bonded with Skywalker. He dared to approach her further and further, until her head snapped back. She jumped off the stone and gazed at him.

They couldn't be more disparate. Ren towered over her in dark robes covered in speckles of dust and sulphur. His eyes roamed her petite figure. She was bathed in silver moonlight. Her chest was heaving up and down in rapid succession.

There stood scarred and scared, facing each other for the second time.

"I am dreaming," she said," just call my name and be done with it." She really wanted to wake up. She had no idea that they were sharing a Force induced vision. Ren knew and hoped to get the information he needed.

"Yes, you must be dreaming. Tell me, do you often dream about your enemies?" He asked in a voice deeper and somewhat gentler than he expected.

"No, I usually wipe the floor with them, as you remember," she said, still convinced he was just a fragment of her dream.

The corner of his mouth twitched. She was so proud of herself for defeating him in a fight. The melody broke down in several pieces, the tune got denser. Her emotions changed, the tune of the Force changed.

"I don't want to be here anymore." She pinched her arm, hoping to wake up. The skin where she squeezed remained vicious shade of red.

"I felt nothing… I _feel_ nothing. What is this? I want to wake up!" She screamed.

"You are not asleep. Your consciousness is projected entirely through the Force. You are a soul without a body…pure energy."

He came closer, as close as they had been once before. She didn't shift her gaze. Neither did he. Her inexperience gave him slight advantage over her emotions. He felt the curiosity rising in her, the heat spreading in her chest. Her pulse quickened and she wondered whether she truly had no body.

"What is a soul without a body? An essence without existence," she whispered and closed the gap between them. Her hand reached further and brushed the scar she had inflicted on his pale face. Both felt it, starring at each other in utter shock.

Ren froze. The melody reached new celestial depth and he could no longer distinguish between Him and Her.

He fought this turmoil the only way he knew how – his hand enclosed her throat in a ginger grip. He felt the bones of her nape, his thumb brushed past her jugular. The touch itself was but a stroke of a feather. It didn't cause her pain. Her pride got hurt more than her skin.

Scream left Rey's throat, deep and aggressive war scream and without ever laying hand on him, Ren flew in the air. He landed on his back and struggled to catch a breath. The air he inhaled didn't cool his lungs like seconds before. Dusty breeze of Korriban filled him once more.

The girl threw him out of the vision with sheer might of the Force. He was livid. The Temple shook with the extent of his rage. Magma poured from his core as well as his lightsaber when dozens of statues found themselves hacked to pieces. Ren swung and hacked, left and right, and shards of stone and metal dug deeper into polished floor.

He became the destroyer of planets. Billions had succumbed to his and Snoke's will and yet; she remained a thorn in his side. He hated her. Her naïve determination to prove herself that she could fight irked him more and more. What he had to bleed and train for in decades, she had handed to her in months.

He hissed when he put the mask back on. It scratched his temples, giving him an odd sense of satisfaction. He didn't physically hurt her, no. But he aimed to manipulate her into revealing her location. She stood her ground because he felt weak in her presence. He entered the tombs with empty hands – he was leaving them filled with doubts and worry.

Korriban served as a temporary First Order base. Hux was running it with uncanny precision. The slaves arrived earlier that morning. Hundreds of men, women and children tied together in force field queued before stormtroopers, passing the inspection. Ren dashed past them, not paying attention to stares of horror he received. His mask looked burnt, unpolished and out of this world.

He was a specter, a manifestation in the shadows. The last Master of the Knights of Ren passed these captives, the last of Vader's bloodline; a carrier of legacy far greater than the whole Galaxy. Several Corillian ships were waiting to be boarded to Naz Thana, the star system in the east of Korriban.

"So, we're slavers now," he thought when passing the Wookies, tied up and huddled together. He didn't care for slaves or rebels. His only interests were the last of the Jedi and the girl – of course, forever the girl.

She wanted to be a Jedi – and what is a Jedi without his weapon? She needed a kyber crystal to power her lightsaber. He knew exactly where he'd find her and his old Master. The trap door of his personal shuttle opened and he boarded the ship with one goal.

"Set the course for Lothal." He said and let his thoughts roam free amidst the revving of engines.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **A/N Two-chapter update today because they're linked to one another. Yeaah.**

The Galaxy didn't cease to amaze Rey. The driver's seat of Millenium Falcon was hers now. No matter how hard she meant to calibrate the landing coordinates, she found herself distracted by the scenery in front of her.

"Planet of Lothal," Luke leaned closer from the backseat," once proud bastion of Rebellion is now but an outpost of the First Order."

They passed an unusual number of imperial probe droids. Grey, repulsive robots had been created for one goal – to record and spy for the Empire. Now, they transmitted to the First Order. Rey landed on a wide spot of uncultivated meadow, far behind a shabby looking town, looming on their left. Chewbacca growled approvingly on the smooth landing. Rey smiled at her new co-pilot. She stroked his furry arm.

"Thank you, I'm trying real hard not to dent it," she said, recalling the offer Han Solo once made her. Somehow, the Force had brought her and this veteran ship together, even if she didn't mean to join. She didn't mean a lot of things that had happened to her, yet they did. Rey and Luke unbuckled their belts and descended the hydraulic trap door. Luke turned, his gaze betraying an uncertainty Rey hadn't felt in him before.

"We must pass Tarkintown, the settlement on the west. The caves with kyber crystals are half a day's worth walk behind. This planet is much more observed by the Order. With a bit of luck, we'll pass unseen." He sighed.

They started walking.

"Master, why can't we send a droid to pick up the crystal? Wouldn't it be less dangerous?" Rey wrapped her grey cloak tighter around her body.

"Every padawan must choose for himself. You won't choose the crystal, the Force will guide you. The choice is but one, always in tune with what the Force desires."

Meadow grass reached Rey's knees and tickled. There was a scent of blossoms percolating her nostrils, something sweet and summery. They passed an orchard of trees; most of them were cut down or burnt. The entrance to Tarkintown constituted of two poles covered with a measly tarp. They were passing brown and grey shanties, hastily put together by some malfunctioning droids of the past. The sweet scent disappeared and sewage hit her nose. Hundreds of quiet voices mingled, whispered in fear. People avoided two cloaked figures like a plague. No one met their eyes and Rey felt like an intruder in this abominable region.

There was a square in the middle, a squalid place for statues.

"Who's that?" Rey asked quietly, and yet she detected some unknown presence accompanying them.

"That," Luke said spitefully," is a statue of former Grand Moff Tarkin. He served with Darth Vader during the height of glory of the Empire. This town was formerly called Tangletown, but stormtroopers disintegrated most of it. Lothal was a very fertile region and imperial mines almost depleted it. And of course, there are kyber crystals. Any potential Jedi would have to venture here to get one, so the Empire – and now The First Order – monitors this planet."

Rey stumbled on a rock and gazed back at the city they had passed. She felt something… a presence she hadn't felt since Starkiller base.

"Now, you walk alone. I shall meditate here and then I must return to Tarkintown. I have an urgent business to attend to." Luke said. He sat down on a giant boulder, crossed his legs in lotus position and took a deep breath. Rey sized up the sheer enormity of the mountain and swallowed empty air.

The mountain path, coiled like a snake in its lair, could barely contain one person. Rey hopped past stray boulders. The gravel jumped off her soles and she was thankful for the support of her staff.

She looked down after a while – her Master was now the size of a pearl within an oyster. The whole valley invited her to take a plunge and fly down like a free bird. The temperature dropped – a sign that the caves weren't far away.

"Go north, till you reach a giant blue fissure in the wall. Crystals there are said to be the most beautiful." Luke instructed her.

"North," Rey fumbled." This isn't north, or is it? How would a north feel like?" She kept thinking. "Coming from a desert, one would think it's cold," she sighed, climbing on all four. She had to use her hands to ward off the boulders in her way. She should feel cold, but small rivulets of sweat were sliding down her back.

"Where am I?" Rey turned around. Mist started to crawl around her ankles, rising further up, until everything disappeared in this milky vapor. She wanted to take a step forward, but she couldn't. Some invisible pressure forced Rey to back down against the slope wall.

"Arrgh," she growled in pain as the sharp grazed her back. She didn't care about the pain, but the mist. She saw nothing. Somehow, she felt blinded by more than just this natural phenomenon.

"Who's there?" Her voice trembled at the sight of a strange silhouette. Not one, but dozens. Then, she saw and screamed. Hundreds of erect poles accompanied the mouth of the mountain; on top of each one was a severed hand clutching a lightsaber. Some were still fresh, covered in meat rotting off the bone. Others were dry and hollow, just bones. Maybe the Force whispered to her; maybe she knew because she had seen his handiwork before. Kylo Ren did this. Now she understood why they called him Jedi Killer.

"Take a look around you," said the voice behind a mask. "Those were all just like you; strong with the Force and foolish enough to use it against me." Ren himself emerged from the fog. Tall as a mountain and hidden behind a mask – she didn't know whether to run from him, or towards him. She would have killed him on the spot, had she gotten close.

The veins on Rey's neck and forehead pulsed wildly. Her back, still glued to the cave wall, resisted Ren's Force push. She wasn't the same intimidated girl from the forest of Takodana. She fought back.

"I see you've grown quite a bit," Ren maintained his Force push, but his hand shook mid air. Rey fought just as hard to break the connection. She had to stall long enough to ground her center and fight him.

"How did you find me here?"

"I never lost you, _Rey_." The way he said her name stirred something within her. He had no right to do so…

"You can take off that mask. I've seen what lies behind it." Rey spat.

An image popped into her head; a scar marring his calm face. How could she know that? She felt as if she'd seen his scar before… in a dream. She woke up hazed and disoriented a few nights ago, sharing a nightmare with him, of all people. Convinced it was just a dream, she didn't dwell on it. Now, she felt the same heat rising in her cheeks; the same struggle to breathe. While now the mist came from the mountain, she saw it rising from a waterfall – it all felt so tangible. Could the dream be real?

Ren felt her emotions. She knew he did. Him tapping into her mind felt like a shared memory; a string of events which they both viewed together. Finally, she broke his hold of her. She tried to run as far as her shocked body allowed. There was nowhere else to go. Every step brought her closer to the precipice. She would walk to her death whether she chose go to him, or over the cliff.

Ren ignited his lightsaber. He didn't strike, waiting for her first move.

"What are you going to do?" He tilted his head.

Rey looked at him and then on her staff, leaning against the rock. One single look revealed her intention to fight him – perhaps even to the death.

He charged at her, barely missing her arm. Red glow hummed in the air and cut through the fog in several aggressive strokes. Rey grabbed the staff and surged ahead. They both circled each other with a cautious distance between them.

Silence fell on them - the one that accompanies death, for nothing else in the whole Galaxy could be as still; so devoid of life as their encounter. Her arm swung high in the air; yet she never hit the dark creature. Ren cut her staff in half like a knife through butter.

"Steel is no match for a lightsaber, just as you are no match for me."

He cornered her. Only the Force had been helping her to keep him from delivering a lethal blow. The mountain trembled; the stone was cracking with the intensity of their melee. His feral screams told her more about his fight – he was going for the kill this time.

"It's now or never," Rey thought and stretched her right hand into the fog. Ren stepped back and drew the sword high in the air. Before he could sever her arm, Rey managed to call on a lightsaber from one of the poles. She knew nothing of the weapon. The moment emerald column burst from the handle, she attacked.

"Summon a hundred Jedi weapons, summon a thousand. It doesn't matter, "he taunted," because you are not a Jedi. You're just a scavenger and always will be."

"And yet you're the one who has to be reminded that I am just a scavenger… I will stop you and bring you to justice for what you've done." She cried out.

She wasn't trying to kill the man who destroyed billions of lives. She didn't slash after the monster that obliterated entire star systems. She would gladly pierce the heart of Ben Solo, the son who robbed his father of life. Luke's voice echoed at the back of her mind. "Jedi never succumbs to anger. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering… it is the way of the dark side."

How could she not distinguish the two, though? At that moment, Han's limp body falling off the bridge at Starkiller base was all she could fight for.

Their battle wasn't an elegant dance. Kylo's mastery of the saber was more nuanced, more graceful. Rey kept hacking whenever she felt the damage could be done. Red and emerald met and parted rhythmically, as if the wielders never intended to sacrifice one to the other. They stepped into the cave and one of his blows crushed several kyber crystals from the walls; the same crystals she had come to get.

Their lighsabers clashed, radiating gold. All of a sudden, her left arm shot upwards and ripped the mask off his face. She wanted to strip him of one more layer of protection against the world. Golden glow cast long shadows over the scar she had given him. The scar reached deeper than his face. It contorted in a menacing grimace.

"You would avenge Han Solo. I can feel it. I can feel the hatred boiling within you." He sounded both amused and surprised. "Do it Jedi, don't hold back." He wanted to see what she was capable of. He needed to be sure she was the one.

Rey flexed her bicep with gritted teeth. Ren looked as if he didn't have to put half her effort into the fight. The longer their lightsabers crossed, the less sure his grip felt. Rey sensed a strange doubt in his heart. He fought, but not as hard as he could have.

"You think you're walking righteous into the battle? Without anger and hatred, you'll always be defeated. Vengeance can set you free." He urged her.

Finally, she gave in.

"It's not vengeance. It's justice!" She screamed, feeling all the resentment towards him springing to the surface.

The pure surge of the Force rippled the air. The rock trembled and roared at first. Then, the massive avalanche of rubble and stone came clashing down from all sides, blocking the way out. Both fighters jumped away from each other and the darkness covered all.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

She opened her eyes first.

He was lying ten feet away, covered in rubble and dust. She crawled to her newfound lightsaber, still glowing on the opposite side of the blast site. The shards pricked her elbows, and then, she felt a strong tug of her foot. He held her leg. She pulled, but his grip on her strengthened. She wanted to yell at him. Instead of her voice, a coughing fit seized her lungs. Every breath stung, dust particles filled her windpipe.

Rey kicked - he reached and before she realized, he had her pinned down. Ren's physical presence smothered her more than crushed stone.

"Stop fighting me," he said calmly. Rey felt his hot breath on her face, surprised it came out of a living, breathing human being. While she was still inching away to get to her weapon, his head was up. He was looking around, inspecting the dark space around them.

She struggled more and more – to drag his dead weight upon her torso wasn't easy.

"Stop it," he repeated. It wasn't the words, but his tone that startled her. She didn't sense a threat behind it, he spoke gently, quietly.

"Never," she spat at him," get off me."

"What will you do if I don't?"

"The second my fingers touch that lightsaber, I will drive it through your heart."

His movement stopped. The green lightsaber flickered, buzzed, and went out like a dying torch. Both of them were gazing upon each other in absolute darkness, yet they both saw each other more clearly than ever before. She felt his heart beating against her chest. It made her feel uncomfortable – the realization that even monsters still had one.

"Why did you do it?" Rey's voice echoed to the deepest underbelly of the mountain. He could penetrate her mind… the disgust she felt for him, her confused thoughts flying around… and perhaps something else – pity.

"I don't need your pity, Jedi. You don't know anything… You think growing up alone is the worst thing that could ever happen to you. There are fates worse than that."

Rey's hand grazed an edge of something sharp. One of the kyber crystals Ren had blasted from the wall got stuck in the hem of her robes. Her concentration waivered because of him; but more she pictured light, the brighter the cave got. Voluminous red glow stepped out of this world and absorbed everything. The light warmed and burned them in unison.

"You _still_ want to kill me." The disappointment in his voice was evident. Rey distanced herself from him, slithering to the opposite side to her lightsaber.

"You're _still_ a killer, aren't you?"

Ren's eyes passed from her saber to his empty hands. He flexed them a few times, as if his lightsaber would jump from the tons of rubble. She was armed and he wasn't. He didn't want to frighten her – not because he considered Jedi's feelings. The danger was imminent - the whole cave could collapse on them at any moment. Snoke's voice wormed its way into Ren's head. _"Use this to your advantage. Reach the girl and use what blinds her."_

Ren talked firmly, but maintained his distance. "The Force spoke to a powerful man many years ago. There would be a child, one to bring balance to the Force; the one to end all conflict in the Galaxy. That child was born and died and aeons passed without change. The prophecy remained unfulfilled. "

Rey heard blood swishing in her ears. She wiped beads of sweat from her forehead and turned away from him. If she listened to one more word, something terrible would happen. A dark pull almost got hold of her sanity.

"The Force suffered for it… it bled in endless wars between those who used it selfishly, and those devoid of purpose and emotion." He said.

"I know all about the Sith legends. That was thousands of years ago. You think telling me a sad story will make me change my mind? Do you hope to awe me with that piece of misguided lore?"

"You have discovered Force months ago…I know because I was there. _I felt_ your awakening. There is much you don't know and trust me, your new Master will never teach you."

She was sitting calmly across the murderer of her friend, Han Solo, and not striking him down. Rey's nails dug deep into her palms. She must have taken a leave of her senses. His voice reverberated in the cave like a gospel, but she felt the trepidation within him. He sat on his hinds, palms gently on his thighs – ready to leap into strike if she attacked. His dark robes absorbed the red glow from the crystal. His eyes followed her every move.

Yes, those eyes made her more uncomfortable than anything else. The depth of his stare undressed her soul; never wavering presence of this man sank deep into her mind. Even before this encounter, she pictured those eyes in the dark. She couldn't escape them. They were even breathing in sync.

"The vast numbers of Force users during the Old Republic polluted the Force. The Sith were hungry for power and Jedi arrogant in their righteousness. Someone is destined to bring balance to the Force."

Rey huffed. "That someone would be you? Or your First Order?"

He disdained her lack of reverence on the topic. "It certainly won't be Luke Skywalker or his little scavenger," he spat. "Do you think you can trust the old man? He knows who you are, yet he never told you."

The cave began spinning. Flicker of smugness passed Ren's pale face. He struck a sensitive chord and he knew it. He felt centered and more grounded; almost certain she wouldn't use the lightsaber now. He began levitating the stones blocking the passage out, one by one, never taking his gaze form her.

"There is a way to remember," he said, choosing each word carefully. "I was present when the nascent Force found its way into you, Jedi. I can guide you and your memory will come back. If you're not afraid to face it," he said quietly.

"You can't manipulate me. Leave me alone if you want to make it out of here alive." She shot him a warning glance. Her hand twitched – perhaps it would be better to strike him down from behind. One unexpected slash and Kylo Ren would perish. "You have some nerve turning your back on me here." Rey said.

"Should I be afraid?" He pivoted to face her. Rey forgot how tall and menacing his presence was; how unremarkable his face looked. "Noble Jedi would never attack behind my back. Isn't that the very first thing Luke Skywalker taught you? This is why you'll always be guessing, trying to understand. But you won't. You're too afraid to do anything."

"I follow the rules…I'm not a killer without conscience," she retaliated coldly. "You took your father's life without remorse, without hesitation."

"You think the Force follows man made rules? Then you truly are lost." He said with such sincerity in his mellow voice that she had to wonder. What if she gave in? Maybe she could just peak into her memories, just brush the surface gently like an ocean breeze combing through the reeds.

Rey stood on the edge at the city of clouds, but she barely topped the railings. She inspected her hand – so frail and tiny. Suddenly, there was no more Kylo Ren, no cave and no darkness. The vividness of those colors irritated her eyes.

"Reyata," that ominous voice crept behind her and little Rey sought its source. A man of hideous visage offered her his shriveled hand. "Come, child." Four scarlet covered guides mimicked his every move - he must have been important.

Rey followed Ren's voice. "Don't get lost now, concentrate. Observe. Where are you? What do you see?"

"I…" she was pulled to another vision, in another time. The chamber was cold and full of fuming machines. Her limbs felt stiff and she walked into something solid. "I can't see! I can't see!" Rey cried out in a child's voice full of terror.

A harsh hand spun her around and guided her out. "Stop fussing girl, it's just a temporary hibernation sickness. You'll be fine, you'll see in no time."

Ren's voice found her again. She so desperately wanted to follow it out of this nightmare. "What do you see?" He urged again.

Rey saw a crew of stormtroopers boarding a large spaceship. The hangar was opening and a hand kept shoving her towards it."Go now, hurry up."

"Where's my father? I want to see my father!"

"Your father is long dead, girl. Listen to me," a man in his mid-forties with a scruffy beard and pale eyes squatted next to her. "Never speak of him again. Forget your name and where you came from. Forget Coruscant… forget all of it. It's not safe for you to know things that you do."

Salty streaks cascaded down her scrunched face. "NO!" A tidal wave of her anger broke the hydraulic door and threw them across the hangar. Immediate panic arose; the stormtroopers were running across and looking for the Force user who did it. Nobody stopped by an elder man and a little girl crouching behind the ship.

"I see," pale eyes sized up the sobbing child. "Poor little orphan... I wish Jedi would have taken you. Your mind is too dangerous for your own good. I'll take care of you – I promise."

The visions faded slowly, letting Rey linger on every inch of fear and pain that little girl felt. Ren's face came to her field o vision like a welcomed assurance. The nightmare had come to an end. She was lying on her back – how did she get there? She moved her head, shocked to feel his hand supporting her neck. She didn't understand why he would have wanted her to feel more comfortable. He was gazing at her with a peculiar glint in his eyes. He offered her his hand which she swatted away like a pestilent fly.

She stood up. "No one will know about this. Do you understand?" She asked. He nodded. Neither uttered a word till they saw first rays of light protruding through cracked stone wall. He waved his hand lazily. The wall collapsed and the path leading out was free.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Their eyes collided after she regained consciousness. All else waned for him, but one tear trailing down her cheek. She didn't even notice. Why did he? Why did he do anything in her presence, other than cause her pain? This all started as a clever ploy to extract information. Ren witnessed Supreme Leader do it dozens of times; with outcome far less innocent than her single tear.

"What do you see?" He asked, truly concerned about her sanity. If misguided, these visions could be harmful beyond repair. For the time being, he didn't want to damage the mind of his enemy. Surely, he would end her life once she proved no longer useful.

She got up, without his help.

He dropped his hand awkwardly, trying to mask his embarrassment. Of course, she knew where each of them stood. He seemed to forget it at times. He felt something inside him… he was _jealous_. He came closer to her. For each step forward he took, she stumbled backwards. They weren't cowardly steps, but firm retreat of a calm opponent. It was no longer the battle of wills. Whether it was an eternity or one cosmic beat, he recognized something buried within her. Her simmering eyes never left his.

"No one will know about this. Do you understand?" The girl, who was at his mercy only moments ago, was now giving ultimatum. He just nodded politely.

"You know I won't harm you. At least not now." He said.

She knew. Perhaps she always had. Was he that transparent when it came to her? Rey's hand shook, calling her 'saber from the ground.

Ren starred at her. "So much anger… so much hatred buried within you. Pity that you want to waste your passion on becoming a Jedi"

The strain on her face disappeared; her frowned brows arched in surprise. It was true. She felt overwhelmed by all those emotions; yet she could still not act on them. She would prove him wrong. "I told you – I don't seek vengeance."

He wanted to stay in her presence, to sway her towards him. Then, he recalled Snoke's voice _."I want Skywalker to succeed. Let him train her. Let him sow; the harvest will be ours."_

"Train long and hard, Jedi. When we leave, there's no turning back. Next time we meet, I shall kill you. Unless my Master tells me otherwise," he smirked," or you wise up and do what's best for you."

Rey raised her chin. "That's not for you to decide. You're leaving here because I'm allowing it. From now on, think of your life as my gift. Take it and go. Don't forget it, son of Han Solo."

Kylo Ren took one tentative step after another, till the last remnants of the cave were no longer in his way. Only then he collapsed within himself. He re-played the girl's vision over and over after he boarded his personal shuttle and set course out of Lothal.

Once they landed on Korriban, he refused to see anyone, not even General Hux. He boarder the Star Destroyer stationed above the Sith planet. The tranquility of space and its infinite stars was what he needed. He meditated in silent solitude, feasting for a fortnight. His mind grew clouded by her presence; the vision but scratched the surface of this enigma.

"You're doing the worst thing – dwelling on your enemy," Supreme Leader Snoke chastised his student. "Despite all, you've done well, my Apprentice. Now it all comes together," Snoke – or rather his hologram – murmured.

"Will you tell me who she is, Master?" Ren asked.

Even as a hologram, Snoke delved deeper into Ren's soul than anyone else. "You would know if you focused on the bigger picture. You take special interest in her, don't you?"

"No. My interest is limited only to our cause."

"Listen to your pulse – the very thought of her makes your blood rise in waves. You," Snoke pointed finger at him," are affected by her."

Kylo Ren didn't know what to say.

"Now, now. It is not all lost, Master of the Knights of Ren. Observe those emotions, harness them. When the time comes, channel them into hatred towards her."

So he tried. He was almost thankful when other duty called. Strange, how easy it was to forget the world besides them two. The Knight of Ren and the girl = what an unlikely pair, he contemplated. A flickering hologram jumped on the screen of the bridge room. When Ren entered, General Hux was already giving orders to make a copy. Taciturn general did little in the form of greeting; instead, he mutely pointed on the screen. Ren's touch activated the hologram.

Hux's eyes widened. The exact replica of currently masked Ren was standing next to him. Man in the hologram looked identical, only shorter.

"Master, I am reporting from the Ord Mantell. We're half way through the sweep of the Inner Rim planets. I'm pleased to tell you that we've acquired what we were looking for."

Ren's mask didn't show his feelings. His shoulders rose higher.

"We plucked the roots from the very heart of the Jedi temple," the hologram said.

Hux didn't understand a word of this peculiar conversation – surely, a group of elite assassins could be put to better use than looking for some 'roots'.

He leaned to the intercom. "Did you receive the transmission about the coordinates of the Resistance on D'Qar? If you pass the newly destroyed Hosnian Prime, you could reach the rebels in fifteen parsecs. You should fight for the Order."

Kylo Ren turned sharply towards the general. "My Knights are not yours to command, Hux. Don't ever presume to take leadership where it doesn't suit you."

"Of course, Ren. Your assassins are good only for chasing forgotten relics. I wonder why Supreme Leader allows it. Why not put them to better use? Why not crush the enemies of the First Order?" Blue veins popped on temples of Hux's pale skin. What he lacked in height, he substituted in vigor for his cause.

Ren found it amusing. "Don't concern yourself with petty things, General."

"Petty?" Hux screamed. "Look at this and then lecture about petty!"

The screen turned blue and holorecord of _the girl_ filled the room. Ren froze. Hux, on the other hand smirked, filled with satisfaction.

"She's important to you and to the Supreme Leader. Don't forget – I operate this base and nothing here goes unnoticed by me. Imagine my surprise when Captain Phasma reported that you search holorecords of this particular woman."

Ren studied them every night, over and over. Unsure what he wanted to find, or perhaps forget.

"Are you looking _for_ something in her files – or _at_ her?" Hux teased.

Before he could utter another word, he flew across the room; landing in Ren's outstretched fist. Dozen analysts in the room were suddenly deaf and blind. Stormtroopers guarding the entrance didn't dare to flinch. The Star Destroyer knew the wrath of the dark side, and the wrath screamed volumes.

Kylo Ren decided, at that very moment, that the last thing Hux would ever see was the silver rim of his mask. He'd had enough. He – the Master of Knights of Ren would never again be questioned by the likes of Hux. Leather glove crackled more with each spin of Ren's wrist.

General's legs spasmed in the air. His face reddened. He kicked and fought desperate to salvage some oxygen. Alas, all in vain. His kicks reached only empty air. Ren made sure to gaze into the eyes of this puny man. Looking into dying blue flames, he felt nothing. Amber orbs of the girl merely glanced in his direction and Ren's core shook to its foundations. Now, he felt hollow.

Hologram of Rey still hung in the air right before Ren and his victim. She blinked and smiled at no one in particular. When she did, her freckles moved upwards, and wisps of stray hair contoured her warm face.

Ren's concentration broke.

He dropped half-dead Hux on the floor and rushed out of the room. He didn't notice stormtroopers crouching when this dark ghost passed them. He didn't register the corridors behind or the sets of doors opening and closing mechanically. The world stopped in motion. His robes were sweeping the dark floor of the Star Destroyer and that was the only sound he heard.

Once the doors of his chamber sealed, the mask dropped with a loud thud. He tasted something rusty at the corner of his lips – the scar must have opened. He didn't want the inside of his mask stuffed; but that was before _she_ gave him this disfigurement.

Kneeling before Darth Vader's scorched helmet; he prayed. The Force guided him back to Rey's vision. He found it hard to concentrate on anything else but the little girl. She remained brilliant in the sea of gray. Then, he noticed them - scarlet robes… Four mute figures clad in crimson called him from the void.

"Imperial guards," he whispered. When Rey placed not only her hand, but also her trust into the man the guards protected, Kylo's eyes flew wide open.

"Daughter of the Force," he whispered mesmerized. "Daughter of the dark side," he said unable to process what he learnt – that the strongest pull of light he felt was darkness in disguise.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ord Mantell was never an insignificant planet.

Situated in northern Mid-Rim, the planet orbited sparkling sun known as Blue Jewel. In a Galaxy of million wonders, Ord Mantell inspired awe thanks to its crimson colored sky. Whoever looked at the sunrise through its horizon, felt the very beginning of creation. When the sun finally set, beams of blood spilled on this canvas - intense red rays permeated the atmosphere.

The same rays were now blinding Poe Dameron's shield. His X wing was going berserk above the string of volcanic isles.

"Seven, man, there are seven behind you!" Finn's voice broke down in the intercom.

"How many?" Poe's mouth felt dry. Running from seven TIE fighters wouldn't be a problem, but blasting them was.

"We need to lead them away from the village," Poe commanded to his squadron of four other X wings. "On my go, Black one steers west, Red and White follow the opposite course. We have to split them and blow them up above that ridge!"

Poe's beloved X wing took another hit and the whole cabin shook. "Great, there goes my concussion missile," he murmured and steered sharp to the left. R2-D2, his temporary droid beeped and hummed at his side.

"I know. Hold on, Artoo," Poe said and deftly evaded incoming rain of laser blasts. These TIE fighters were skilled, but Poe and his squadron were outmaneuvering them with ease. One more mile and they were out of village range. Even if they destroyed all TIE fighters, villagers wouldn't thank them for the exploding debris covering their fields.

"OOOhooooooo! Yeaaah!" Poe and Finn yelled simultaneously. The last of TIE fighters crumbled mid-air. Detonation illuminated the sky and then it fell in the column of charcoal smoke.

"Congratulations Black leader, seems like we've got another one," Finn said jubilantly. Poe smiled. He planned to land elegantly just outside of village gates, exit the X wing and be greeted by grateful villagers. His black X wing landed smoothly, followed by three others.

What Poe Dameron didn't plan was an eerie silence once he jumped off the cabin. Smoke, ashes and occasional moan were rising in the air. Finn jogged towards him with a blaster ready to shoot. "What is this?"

In the midst of gray rubble, Poe's orange uniform shone like a beacon.

Finn looked around. "I expected more… celebrating after saving the entire village."

"We didn't save the village," Poe said quietly," we saved a graveyard."

Once they truly looked around, the reality hit them – the village had been gone long before they arrived. Finn kicked the nearest debris and growled. "All this for nothing!"

Other pilots just silently observed the rubble, hoping to find someone alive. Poe couldn't believe his eyes. A shriveled woman, old as the first star in the Galaxy, was coming towards them. Leaning on her cane, her hunched form resembled a child with a tummy ache.

"Please, sit down. You're safe – are there others? You can come out now." Poe's head rose high. He wanted – no, he needed others to have made it. Every survivor breathed new life into the Resistance. Each saved town or village kept them going for yet another gruesome day. They needed the victories just as the people they saved.

"There are no others. None but me," she croaked. Her white hair was so sparse that the bald skull peeked under it.

Finn couldn't make a rational decision, his senses failed him. This reminded him of the villagers on Jakku; his very first mission. He felt it – the stare of Kylo Ren on the back of his head. Could he be here? Was the Jedi killer the one who ordered this carnage?

"We should leave, now," Finn leaned to Poe.

Dark haired pilot narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

Finn didn't find the right answer. He hoped Poe would trust him enough to follow his advice. "I have a strange feeling, is all. Something I haven't felt since…"

"You know the Force," the old woman spoke. Both men looked at her curiously. "Yes, I know what you feel. I can feel it, too. Darkness passed through my village, great terror. Words fail to describe what I've seen."

Suddenly, this mission became more than just a routine stealth rescue.

"This isn't our fight," Poe said. Finn nodded and both ushered her back to the X wing. "You know what we have to do, right?"

Finn sighed. "Get her to Luke Skywalker. Now."

* * *

"Master…look, master!" Young Ben was standing in the middle of the room, clutching brilliant glass pyramid. "Can I look at it, Master? Please…"

Luke was walking toward his nephew. The closer he got, more distant the child became. Always out of reach, Ben Solo started calling his name. _Master…master…master…_

"Master! Wake up." Luke's eyes shot wide open. Rey was poking his shoulder, trying to get his attention.

"We're almost there." She furrowed her brows. "What did you dream about?"

"Nothing." Luke straightened his robes and wiped invisible dust from his eyes. He'd rather not dwell on those memories, so disturbing; they wormed the way into his mind.

They were flying to Geonosis, the new bastion of Resistance. Once the First Order released their coordinates to the whole star system, staying on D'Qar became dangerous. Luke didn't know much about the inner workings of the Resistance; the years were lost on him. He couldn't even think about it, not with the knowledge who was leading them.

General Organa ordered relocation to Geonosis, the planet one parsec away from D'Qar. The cabin of Millenium Falcon was bursting with anticipation. Luke couldn't but admire Chewie and Rey. Where she maneuvered, he followed. When the Wookie joked, and the cabin remained quiet, she laughed and patted his fur. She understood him better than anyone else, besides Han. Few times, the light hit the shields just right and Luke's dewy eyes followed Han's presence. His brother in law stood nearby in the Force.

Millenium Falcon landed just in time for an important meeting. Rey was switching the engines and carrying out the last control check before disembarking the ship. Luke touched her hand gingerly.

"Don't expect greetings here, my padawan. Be cautious."

"Why? Are we not welcomed here?"

"You are. I'm not." He sighed, scratching his beard."You can't forget that you weren't the first one to be looking for me. The resistance had transmitted many messages throughout the years, trying to locate me. I never responded. They risked lives to find me, and some of them won't be coming back from those missions," he said grimly.

Rey nodded. When the steam from hydraulic door of the ship cleared, Rey and Chewie both grunted.

"This has to be worse than Jakku," she commented at the sight of neverending deserts of Geonosis. Inhospitable planet scorched even their shadows. Mined and depleted by the Galactic Empire, forgotten and destitute – a perfect place for the Resistance. Luke's eyes were unaccustomed to such glare. Years of soothing greenery attuned him to different climate. The trio entered giant industrial complex, seemingly abandoned. Steel and platinum adorned the walls of the new base, the temperature inside dropped significantly.

"General Organa won't attend just yet. She is still on D'Qar, overseeing the last shipment of supplies," Poe Dameron said instead of greeting. He was walking on strings, waving to passer-byes and making small talk, which Luke muted in his head. Wave of relief swept through him. So, Leia wasn't there. He wasn't ready to meet her – maybe he never would be. They walked right into the main operating room. Luke took down his cape and sat next to Rey and Chewie at the back corner.

The room fell silent.

As if his mere presence threw Geonosis off its axis, all eyes were fixated on the Jedi Master. Some ogled his lightsaber; a lost weapon anyone in the Galaxy saw more than thirty years ago. Others stared boldly into the eyes of traitor and refugee. Luke felt their emotions – the hate, indifference and curiosity mixed with fear.

"Well, we've got an endangered species with us today," Poe joked."The last Jedi Master in the Galaxy…" Rey and Finn suppressed laughter and Chewie let out a loud "Aaargh."

"All joking aside, I'd like to welcome Luke Skywalker on behalf of the Resistance. You are invaluable in our fight for justice and freedom. First Order might have driven us out of D'Qar, but we'll never stop fighting. "

The room echoed with lukewarm applause. In fact, it was more than Luke had expected. Sound of metal contorting under extreme pressure startled them all. The complex breathed in and out; accompanied by the screeching of its metal bones. The whole resistance base was a composite of pipes and walls that could crumble anytime.

Poe cleared his throat. "Three days ago, Black squadron carried out a rescue mission on Ord Mantell. We destroyed TIEs in pursuit of a ground target, a small farming village. Terrestrial sweep revealed no civilian survivors, except one."

People noticed the old villager only when she narrowed in the chair.

"That's why we called for your assistance," Poe addressed Luke. Huddled in her seat, one wanted to soothe woman's aching joints and pity her. She clasped her gnarly hands and sighed.

"My village didn't perish in the hands of the First Order. Those wretched ships came last. Before, one black shuttle landed in the crop fields at night. No one knew what was coming, nobody could do anything."

Rey sat still. Luke sensed a vision entering her mind. He saw it too. The woman's fear opened the connection in Force that only the Master and apprentice shared with her.

"Red glowed the death that came upon us. When we saw the one carrying lightsaber, we thought we were dreaming. I haven't seen that weapon since I was a little girl. Seven clad in black armor and masks killed all…and then, they took the tree." She wept.

Whispers passed the room, some outright sighs of disbelief.

"A tree?" Poe and Finn asked in unison. Finn found words first. "Now we can be really sure that the First Order isn't behind this. Nobody had us ever hunt some old relics or plants in my time as a stormtrooper." Finn couldn't imagine General Hux ordering his units to salvage a tree with a straight face.

"Our orders were precise, clinical – retrieve intel, remove obstacles and report back. Man, I hated those reports," he said with a dreamy gaze. Poe bit his lip and turned to keep a straight face.

Luke Skywalker spoke for the first time since he set foot into the meeting.

"I came across rare piece of information on Lothal. It seems some of my old contacts in Tarkintown were more than willing to go against the First Order."

Rey's head shot up. This was the first time she heard Luke talk about what he had been up to in Lothal, while she was battling Kylo Ren.

"The seven are indeed more than the Order. They're called Knights of Ren – an ancient and powerful group of dark Force users."

Finn sighed. "That sounds great, just great…not only are they killers, but Force sensitive killers. Just for a variety, right?"

"They are not as powerful as they fancy themselves to be. Not yet. I knew their leader," painful flash crossed Luke's face. "Nevertheless, in times where no Light fights in the name of the Force, they grow - not in numbers, but in power."

Rey understood. Luke taught her all about the history of Dark side. Sith were weakened by the numbers. If trained properly, power of the Seven could destroy the whole star systems.

"I think we're missing the point – is no one going to talk about the tree? What would they want a tree for?" asked Poe. "I mean, I've seen my fair share of smugglers with more than _delicate_ cargo. That reminds me; never promise Neimodian a deal involving Twi'lek dancers and chains. That doesn't end well." Smiling, Poe mentally emerged out of the story less than suitable for present company. "Still – a tree?"

Luke's mind wandered far back, decades ago. "This isn't just any old chestnut. It was a Force-sensitive tree, the last one that once stood at the heart of Jedi Temple on Coruscant; dating back to the last days of the Republic. It's imbued in a Force field, very powerful if used by a trained person. Thousands of Jedi trained around it for hundreds of years, suffused it with their energy. I held that tree in my arms. In fact, one very brave pilot helped me save it."

Jedi Master's gaze rested on young Poe Dameron.

"Your mother," Luke said. "Shara Bey helped me to save the very little that remained from the grand Jedi legacy. It was before you were born, of course." Luke smiled as if there was more to this story.

Poe's chest rose higher. The pride he felt for mother he barely knew could reach the ceiling. There was nothing more to add, so Poe led the new additions to Resistance outside. Only heads of the factions remained, talking about classified subjects. On their way out, the old woman gazed at Rey. She squinted, shaking her white head. Rey got the odd sensation of being mind probed, only that couldn't be. This old, frail creature wasn't strong with the Force.

"I have a feeling she knows me," Rey murmured to her Master.

"Don't," Luke gripped Rey's shoulder before she could stop by the woman. "We have other things to do now."

The group returned back to Millenium Falcon. When the trap door ascended, the jovial façade dropped.

"I need you to track the steps of these Knights," Luke spoke quickly. A radar controller beeped. He shot it a dirty glance. "We can't trust anyone. We don't know who might be listening. Geonosis isn't safe – there are thousands of still active imperial probes here. Dormant, but orbiting the atmosphere, these droids could be used by the First Order without any of us ever knowing." Luke said, looking left and right. "I need you to find them before they find Re-…before they find us." He quickly added.

"No." Finn said calmly.

"Finn, there's no one better for this than you and Poe. You know what the Force can do – others still believe it's but a myth; an old religion. You saw it with your own eyes. He just needs your help," Rey caught his hand. " _We_ need it."

Finn looked conflicted, as if battling something within.

"Look, Skywalker," he paced to and fro. "I spent days trying to get the droid with the map to you away from the First Order. I helped the resistance. I ended up with my back sliced because I was helping. But this…this is madness. We need to fight the Order, to protect the planets under attack. We should be doing something else than chasing these knights of…"

"…Ren," Rey said.

"Yeah. Well, we've met one of them – can you imagine crossing paths with seven?" Finn seemed to be talking directly to her. Rey sighed, knowing very well why Finn didn't want to get involved.

"Where do we even begin to look for them?" Finn finally asked.

"Go back to Ord Mantell for now, to the village you saved. I will tell you where to go from there. Don't do anything rash; just observe and report right back."

Everyone stood silent for a while. Poe put his hand on Finn's shoulder."I'm game if you are. Besides, if as you say, they can use the Force – that's important, isn't it? Following them might prevent their next attack."

Both men shook Luke's hand and hugged his padawan. Eerie feeling passed through Rey. The very knowledge where her friends were headed unsettled her.

"The Knights of Ren," she kept whispering alone. _He_ bore the name Ren; as if fighting for that monstrosity of an Order wasn't enough. She couldn't help but wonder: was Kylo Ren their leader? He mentioned a Master back on Lothal, a presence more powerful than him. She came back to the caves in vision and she hated it.

Rey dreamed about him every night. He would stretch his hand to her; a gesture so unexpected Rey stepped instinctively back. She wanted to hold onto it. Every atom in her body kept pushing her forward. Not to him, to the knowledge she was so utterly fascinated by. An hour with Kylo Ren gave her more answers than monthly training with her Master. She saw those eyes beckoning, willing her to obey.

She didn't.

They always parted as sworn enemies – but what did she swear to? Was it an oath to take his life at the nearest chance she'd get? That voice whispering " _kill him"_ in the forest of Starkiller base wasn't just a random push towards the darkness. What if it was her own conscience, urging her to sway from the edge of the cliff?

Her Jedi training continued uninterrupted despite the poisonous atmosphere of Geonosis. The planet was evil. It didn't want them any more than they desired to be there. The air felt oppressive. Two suns Geonosis orbited burnt through metal and flesh alike. Rain never came, but when clouds darkened the horizon, simmering vapors rose from the pools of molten tar.

Luke kept watching over her. He controlled her training, but not her mind. In the evenings, worn out mentally and physically, sleep didn't come. Just like on Jakku, those who weren't present occupied her thoughts.

The meditations didn't attune her to the sonata of the Force. Only once did she hear the divine melody, once in her dream by the waterfall. Rey was convinced that it wasn't real – it couldn't be. She knew because the real visions from the cave hurt. Everything about them caused her suffering. The city in clouds, the important man with guards, her blindness and terror of the man in the hangar; all felt vivid and real.

"Is dark side more powerful?" She asked Luke, levitating a boulder in the air.

His mouth formed a weary little smile. "Not more powerful, easier. My Master tried to teach me the distinction. I didn't understand it then, only later, when I faced my…" He stopped.

Rey lowered her gaze. The tales larger than life shaped the Galaxy. She now lived with a legend from one of them. Luke Skywalker was slowly becoming the father she had longed for. He was different than Han Solo, but equally gentle and caring. He never lost his patience with her, only once.

"No," Luke said.

"I want that one. The Force called me to it, I found it alone. I will have that kyber crystal, not any other." Rey stood her ground.

"Only Sith used red crystal. They even manufactured most themselves because they were so rare. That color is charged with intent to harm, to kill; to let the rage reign free. It's no weapon for a Jedi."

Rey wanted the one crystal from the cave. She couldn't explain why. Perhaps because it illuminated darkness when all lights went out. Perhaps because she still saw Ren's face imprinted in the shade of red. She needed to feel its power surging through her arm. "Let me have it, Master. The color isn't important. It's the intent behind my lightsaber. The Force doesn't follow man made rules."

" Where did you hear those words? Who told you this?" Luke asked, stunned.

Rey stammered. "I… I… don't know." Lie, the first lie she ever told. "Why aren't we looking for the Knights of Ren, Master?"

The subtle change of subject didn't go unnoticed by Luke. "We're doing the best we can for now – completing your training. I knew a reckless young padawan once. He rushed into action head first, without thinking."

Rey let the boulder drop. "Did he get killed because he wasn't trained properly?

"Not exactly, but he missed the great opportunity to learn even more from his Master."

Luke sighed and sat next to Rey on the lowered trap door of their ship. They were gazing at two Geonosian suns, just like he once had on his home planet. Before the Empire, before he became a Jedi, there was a simple farm boy longing to visit far corners of the Galaxy.

He shared the vision with Rey.

She smiled. "Is that you?" The blond haired boy was barely older than her.

"It may not seem like it, Rey, but the gift of knowledge is the greatest way to channel the Force. The trials you will face will be harder for you than for any other padawan."

"Why?" She asked as the vision disappeared. He didn't answer. "Why is it harder for me? Please, tell me. I know you're hiding the truth about my parents. I trusted you to tell me when the time is right, but I can't wait. I need to know."

What followed next overwhelmed Rey unlike any other vision she'd ever had. Master and padawan shared a connection, so profound that their emotions were linked together. Luke didn't close off the connection after he showed her bit of his childhood on Tattooine.

Suddenly, Rey was thrown into a whirlwind of colors and shapes. She landed in front of a small boy. His black hair was short and a rat tail peeked from his cape. The boy looked straight past her and ran. She followed him to a dilapidated building, a tattered shelter of moss and stone. He looked left and right. When sure he was alone, he pulled a strange object from his pocket.

Rey narrowed her eyes. Boy placed this glowing triangle on the slab of stone and stepped back. The loud breaths belonged to Rey – the boy seemed to know what would follow.

He touched the pyramid and myriad of images came to life in front of them. The cape fell off and she looked deep into his eyes. Darker than night, they flickered from one picture to another, fluttering like a moth in front of the flame. Rey couldn't make the content of those dreadful pictures. A red-skinned warrior with ruby colored lightsaber came charging at them from nowhere. Rey ducked instinctively, forgetting that these phantoms couldn't harm them.

Boy stood captivated.

His mouth wide open, small hands rose mid air, as if needing to capture the allure of the battle. Soon, both were lost in the sea or emerald, blue and red. Hundreds of lightsabers cut the field. As much as Rey should have been touched by the scale of this battle, she couldn't tear her eyes from the boy.

She knelt right in front of him. Then, he lowered his gaze. He looked directly into Rey's eyes. He couldn't see her, could he? Yet, his black eyes followed the tiniest movement of hers. _She knew those eyes_. They fought her and spared her life before.

Out of the blue, the boy closed the holocron and pocketed it.

"Have you learned anything new, Ben?" Younger Luke Skywalker had been leaning on the column behind the boy. "If you want to know something, you need but ask. You don't have to sneak around like a thief at night."

"I wanted to know more about the Sith empire. The old empire; not the one that you defeated, Master. Maelus gave it to me," he looked at his feet.

"Why?" Luke crouched surprised. "The Sith are all gone."

"So I can defeat them if they ever come back. Just like you defeated the Emperor." Boy smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Enough," a voice pulled Rey out of this dream world. "You've seen enough, Reyata."

Two suns were long gone. Starry sky chilled the air. Rey got up from the cold clay in front of Millenium Falcon.

"Maybe if you told me something, _anything_ , I would know better, Master." She said softly.

"I can't. I can't have you know the boy I once did. You wouldn't believe what he would become."

"But why?"

"You can't make the same mistake like me. Because when the time comes, you'll have to have the strength to do what I failed. You'll have to have the strength to kill him."

Rey's mouth went agape. Was this the way of the Jedi - to plan a murder in advance? She would kill him in the battle. That was different. When a lightsaber sizzles meat from one's bones, the kill is swift and just. Not like this.

 _"_ _I can teach you what Luke Skywalker never will. He knows your parents, yet he never told you._ " Kylo Ren's voice reverberated in her mind.

Sun was the Moon and the lies were the truth. Rey grew silent. Luke called her Reyata, the name from her visions. She was to follow her Master on a chase after magical trees instead of learning the truth. He needed her power, and he had the gall to refuse one simple request. Ren was right – Luke was hiding something.

Once again, it was about everything but her. It never was. Suddenly, she sympathized with Ben Solo, the little boy awestruck by the ancient battles. The boy looked at the world through the same lens. The boy felt her pain. And now, the boy had to die.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kylo Ren was standing in the bridge tower of a Star Destroyer. His usual appearance - black robes and mask didn't disturb the crew. He was standing in front of massive V shaped glass panels; overlooking empty space.

He paced back and forth a few times, as if waiting to see something else than black canvas dotted with stars. Myriad of cold dead stars shone long before this ship passed them; and they would continue to do so.

Static universe didn't terrify him as it should. Few more minutes, and then, the crew noticed change in his demeanor. Usually impatient, he now stood still. Star Destroyer changed its course more than twenty degrees and suddenly, it became visible.

Gigantic sun had just come out from behind nearby planet. Watching sunrise in space – what could be more magnificent? Few things in life awed Kylo Ren. This was one of them. The shields of this massive ship repelled any heat or gamma rays. Ren could swear he felt the sun rays caressing his skin, warming his body. No, of course the ventilation of the Destroyer was the reason the air ever moved.

"They'll be landing in the main hangar shortly." Hux announced.

Ren's slight nod would suffice to make Hux leave his presence. Star Destroyer's hangar opened and swallowed an inconspicuous space barge.

Out stepped the scourge of Malachor, the ancient Seven. The capes cut to ribbons were sweeping the floor. Space dust settled on their robes and masks, distorted into hideous shapes. Blaster burns scorched their helmets, every garment bore the signs of battle and death. Kylo Ren awaited them in the hologram chamber. Compared to them, the Master of Ren looked like a more refined, polished version. War didn't touch Ren as closely as it did his knights. In the end, the battles were led by generals, but won by the soldiers.

The Knights of Ren bowed to him, one by one before they finally sat down around the octagon table.

"Any problems on Ord Mantell?" Ren asked.

"We took the tree and killed all villagers. "

How does one read a face behind the mask? Ren couldn't see possible betrayal in their eyes. He didn't have a chance to divine a threat in their gleam. What he didn't see, he felt through the Force.

"You killed all of them? Really… nothing else, Maelus?" He asked calmly. After he neglected to kill FN-21 87 on Jakku, he wouldn't take any chances. He sensed something amiss in that story. He felt a skipped heartbeat within the knight's armor. "Nevermind, you won't have to answer to me."

Supreme Leader Snoke rose from behind the table in the form of a giant hologram. They all knelt down, all except Ren. Kneeling Seven formed like a dagger on the floor, and their Master, greeted Supreme Leader.

"I sense what you want to know, my loyal warriors," he said ceremoniously."You've served our cause exceptionally well. You have passed many obstacles and purged the Force of its usurpers. Many Jedi children died in your hands. Now," he looked at Kylo Ren," now it's time for one final test before we meet in person."

Ren's hand instinctively slid towards the handle of his lightsaber.

Snoke grinned. "Your premonition guides you well, my apprentice. Two there shall be, no more - one to embody power and one to crave it."

Ren knew what would follow. He was going to have to execute his own knights; men loyal to him since they were but padawans. But something in Snoke's calculated gaze unsettled him. He learned to read that marred face during his training.

"Give me an order, Supreme Leader and I will obey." Ren said.

"Oh, I will give the order, my apprentice. Knights of Ren – fight for your lives. Whoever is the last one standing shall complete my training. Kill your Master, if you can. And you, Kylo Ren – prove you are the chosen one. Prove your worth to me and you will become infinite."

Ren waited.

This couldn't be the final order, there had to be more to it. Would Snoke keep anyone whose lucky hand would have driven a lightsaber through him? Had years of training and loyalty meant nothing to the Supreme Leader? So grand in his wisdom, dangerous in his power – and yet, he was leading his own apprentice to the slaughter.

His breathing got more ragged with each passing second. Ren slowly looked behind his back. The Seven wasn't kneeling anymore. One by one, their lightsabers ignited. It never even occurred to them to fight each other, they all charged right for their Master. The battle set the whole hologram chamber on flames. Sparks slithered through the sealed gate, melting the uniforms of guarding stormtroopers. They ran to call General Hux, terrified of what was happening behind those doors.

Screams roared for a while; savage cries of attack. Rather than dying out, they changed to pleas of mercy. Then, only silence accompanied the crackling of dying sparks. Like embers, they shone for a while and then burnt out forever.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hux asked stormtroopers clutching the blasters close to their chests. They simply pointed at the door. When General Hux dared to enter the chamber, he found Kylo Ren besides Snoke's fading hologram.

On the table lay seven masks charred in smoke, but no bodies.

Before any of them could say a word, a stormtrooper ran into the chamber. "Sir, we found two rebels inside the space barge."

"Bring them to the interrogation chamber and set course to Rakata Prime." Ren said and stormed out of the room, leaving trail of blood in his wake.

# # #

Finn knew that hiding on Ord Mantell unnoticed for three days was too good to be true. "I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, but this has to be the dumbest one." Finn groaned.

"What gives?" Poe wiggled his wrists without success.

"Maybe the fact that we're both strapped to a torture rack on a Star Destroyer without any possibility of escape?" Finn said.

Poe wagged his hand confined in the metal latch. "Keep it cool. As long as we keep the spirits up and our mouth shut, we'll be fine."

"Yes, unless Hux decides to pay us a visit. Or FN – 2344; I owe him some credits for that late game of dejarik. Or Phasma. "Finn's head shot upwards as much as the restraints allowed. "I really don't think she forgot our last meeting."

The incessant beeping of an imperial probe droid gave him headache. The wretched piece of junk didn't cease to screech and buzz.

"If I could only reach my wrist," Poe said, twisting it more aggressively. "My emergency micro-tracker could send a signal to Geonosis."

"You think the Resistance would come for us here?" Finn asked. Poe's silent look gave him the answer.

Finn's head dropped to his chest. "So this is probably it, then." Nobody had walked in yet, but Finn felt the shadow looming over them. He could tell who would be interrogating them. A bucket of ice cold water filled his stomach. Even though he shivered in cold, his forehead and palms were dripping sweat.

"Good think we don't have to fight our way out of this. Any blaster would just slip through my hands," Finn tried to make light of their situation. Poe's wrist was red and bruised, but the clasp didn't budge an inch.

The door opened.

Foul stench of burnt plastic and metal accompanied Kylo Ren. His robes were disgruntled and cut at many places. One of his gloves was off revealed deep gash across his hand. Finn and Poe looked at each other. Whatever battle Ren was in, it followed him here.

"What a surprise to see you two again." His voice was laced with sarcasm, even altered by the mask contraption. Finn noticed his frantic pace. The man was more unhinged than he'd ever seen him before.

"You know what will follow if you don't talk. Whoever talks first won't have to watch the other one die. What was the Resistance doing on Ord Mantell?"

"We were sightseeing." Poe deadpanned with a straight face.

Finn's head turned in a slowest possible pace towards his friend. If this was his tactic to escape, no wonder it took a defected stormtrooper to bust him out last time. They were doomed.

Ren stepped closer and grabbed nape of Poe's neck. Finn heard a slight crack and Dameron's scream sliced the air.

"You are useless to me." He said after a while of intense concentration. Finn gulped as Ren moved towards him. He walked steady and reserved, as if sure to get what he needed from Finn.

"I'm glad I didn't kill you at the Starkiller Base. I can enjoy it more now." His arm shot in the air. Finn immediately felt intense pressure drilling into his cranium. Both temples got crushed under this invisible weight. His eyes watered. How could he make it stop? He would have told this dark creature anything, even the things he didn't know, if it meant release.

"I can see you in the dark. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide. I can feel you in the Force. I know you're out there." Ren said quietly.

Finn sensed those words didn't belong to him. Kylo Ren siphoned through his memories and feelings like an open book. Then, he found Rey.

"No!" Finn yelled, to no avail.

The less he wanted to think about her, the more graphic the images became. He saw Rey on Geonosis; Rey laughing with Chewbacca; Rey spinning her staff while training. He saw her – which meant Ren did too.

The probe droid kept beeping somewhere in the room which began spinning. Finn's veins caught fire and he pushed back. Ren shoved his arm closer and the pressure intensified. He was taking more and more, looking at the girl doing mundane things. A sane thought crept into Finn's tortured psyche – why didn't he look for the coordinates of Resistance base? He could have taken maps, locations, names and dates important to the rebel cause. Why did he waste time watching Rey playing with a red stone?

The stone seemed to be the key. Ren saw her passionate gaze focused on that ruby kyber crystal. Once he saw her twirl it between her fingers, the connection stopped. Finn let out a long sigh. He felt battered and on the verge of collapse.

"Do I look worse than I feel?" He croaked towards Poe. Poe's face said it all. The Star Destroyer jumped out of hyperdrive, which rattled the ship.

"Keep them bound and guarded by a squad of stormtroopers. I need them alive, for the time being. Prepare to land my shuttle on the surface." Ren ordered and left the room without giving his prisoners a second glance. They were unimportant, but a cog in the large machine Ren was trying to build.

"That went well," Poe smiled weakly. "Are you all right?" He asked Finn in a broken voice.

"I'll live. By the way, we're still alive because he's saving us for something worse than this. I'm sure of that." Finn said. "It has something to do with Rey, or Luke Skywalker. I think we're bait," he sighed solemnly.

"Good thing Resistance knows it's a trap." Poe smiled.

"How?" Finn asked.

Poe smirked and nodded towards his wrist. It was bleeding and contorted in a strange position, but a small red diode was beeping vigorously.

Finn chuckled. By the time good news truly sank in, both men were laughing through the occasional moans of pain. At that moment, they were the happiest tortured prisoners in the entire Galaxy - because they still had hope.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 **A/N Thank you all for reading and faves 3 It's going down, folks, yay for badass Rey.**

Rey was basking in the silver glow of Moon by the waterfall. She didn't find it odd, being back here. This was her safe haven, a place she visited during her meditations. No darkness frequented these nocturnal meadows. Her long hair was flowing in the air, droplets of water shone on her face. Suddenly, a tremor disturbed the waterfall. The current falling in the gorge wasn't the only thing she heard.

 _"_ _I can see you in the dark. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide. I can feel you in the Force. I know you're out there."_

Rey rose up and blinked several times. Soon, a voice took on a form and _he_ emerged from behind the cascading water. The earth ripped them apart once; the mountain had to collapse on keep them from clashing last time. For some reason, the Force kept bringing them together; two destructive cyclones trained to kill each other.

She woke up drenched in sweat. It took her a minute to realize she was still on Rebel base on Geonosis, training with her Master. The planet was in turmoil – she sensed it before she heard anything. Rey dressed quickly into white shirt, grey pants and Jedi robes. She gazed longingly on her half-constructed lightsaber, lying idly on the table. For now, she grabbed the mended staff and ran off the Millenium Falcon.

Geonosis was in the middle of one of its solar flares; the wind and poisonous fumes hit her nostrils. She ran into the Resistance base. Stunned at the number of people running and shouting in the corridors, she took a turn to the main headquarters.

"Master," she found Luke hunched above the hologram of a blue planet. Admiral Ackbar and other pilots she recognized were gesturing and talking through one another. Rey wanted to shake Luke to tell her what was happening – then she felt it; the presence of another strong with the Force on the planet. Luke's hands resting on the edge of the table started shaking. Both Master and padawan knew who stepped off the ship.

Leia's steps were slow and heavy. Like a convict walking to the gallows, she didn't want to reach her destination. She was trembling and counting steps, dreading to see him.

"Just one corridor, just a few more yards," she whispered. How strange to have the apple of her desire at the grasp of her hands.

Luke Skywalker stood proudly in the middle of a full operational room. She saw only him, no one else. His grey hair and a beard were so unlike that golden haired boy she knew from Endor. That was the moment she kept returning to in all those bitter years.

The Ewoks were dancing around the pyre; Leia hugged both Han and Luke and smiled. She smiled towards that bright future which never came. Now, Luke swept her into his arms. No words were spoken, no apologies or greetings. Rey felt she was witnessing something deep and intimate; something even an orphan like herself recognized and envied.

Siblings looked into each other's eyes for a long time.

"I know," Leia spoke first. "Me too."

Rey started to back up out of the room discreetly, but her Master's hand shot up in the air. "Don't go, Rey. This concerns you most of all. We should talk in private."

Leia nodded and the three of them retired to an old droid storage facility. Obsolete and disconnected droids filled the room, some covered in sheets; others stacked in piles by the wall. Neon lights were humming loudly in otherwise mute and dusty room.

"We received an emergency distress signal from Poe Dameron a few minutes ago."

Rey wrinkled her forehead. "I'll go!"

Leia bit her lower lip, smiling. "You're a part of the resistance now. It has to be approved and official."

"Then I officially volunteer to be a part of rescue mission. I will go on Ord Mantell, Master." Rey said in a tone unbecoming for a young padawan.

"They're not on Ord Mantell. The signal was transmitted from atmosphere in the Rakata Prime." Leia said.

Rey never heard of this strange planet. Luke clarified the situation. "Rakata was a home of a very ancient and exceptionally advanced civilization. They dated back to 30,000 years before the battle of Yavin. Rakata had such technology to their disposal, that the Republic and even Empire couldn't emulate it to this day. They were slavers who enthralled half the Galaxy. In the end, billions of slaves rose against them and only then, the Rakata vanished. They lost the whole planet and a few of the species succumbed to cannibalism and dark times."

"Is this supposed to be better than Ord Mantell?" Rey cried out. If her friends were in distress at a place like that, they'd better hurry. "Chewie and I can make that run in fifteen parsecs, maybe less. I want to help." Rey pleaded.

"I know you want," Luke said. "I also know you've felt it… the presence of Kylo Ren is so strong around you. He wants you to come. If you do, I can't protect you."

Leia's eyes were fixed in the distance. "It's not her death I fear. Master always yearns to finish his student's training."

"What are you talking about, General?" Rey asked, confused.

"Do you remember why I was so hesitant to take you as my padawan, Rey?" Luke asked slowly. "I felt an imprint on you, a connection forged in the Force. You already had a Master when you came to me."

Rey had to sit down on the nearest surface her hands could reach; on top of a disconnected droid. "I said no…" she decided to tell the truth. "He offered to teach me, but I said no. I think I made my refusal clear by stabbing him and leaving him for death."

Luke and Leia didn't say anything. Rey was waiting for some reassurance, an expression of their trust. Why wouldn't they acknowledge her strength? If they only knew how many times she truly resisted Ren… She suspected a bond of sorts being formed between them. All those dreams and visions kept haunting her with him in the center of it all. His presence grounded her firmly in the middle between the Light and Dark side of the Force. She saw what was right, but wouldn't sacrifice herself to the greater good for nothing.

"I felt it, too." Leia sat next to Rey. "You are suffused in his energy. I may not be a Jedi, but I can always sense the presence of my son through the Force. I never stopped," her voice got hoarser. "I can sense him in you."

"Do you want me to kill him?" Rey asked candidly. She had enough of Jedi secrets and pretending. She needed to hear the truth.

"What I want doesn't matter. Listen to the Force guiding you – does it want you to take a life of a man lost to the Dark side?"

 _"_ _Lost?"_ Rey thought. Was he really so far gone that nothing could save him? Who decides who is beyond redemption, anyway. Jedi Knights in all their glory and morals couldn't save the Galaxy. The Republic crumbled under the rule of good, just as the Empire did while governed by evil.

"I don't know," Rey said in all honesty. "I have no idea what to do… where to go to be useful. I never wanted any of this. I was waiting for my parents for so long. I feel like I'm always waiting."

The silence was interrupted by beeping of a droid. Random R2 unit in the far corner started spinning its head around. Suddenly, a mighty jolt threw Rey off the droid which had served as a provisionary chair – it too, came to life.

"What is happening?" Rey asked.

Massive droid malfunction, that was something new even for her. Then, the whole Resistance base shook to its core. Luke, Rey and Leia barely kept their balance. Huge chunks of debris were falling from all directions. The best Rey could do was to lie on the stomach and cover her head. She had to get them out of this stuffed room full of robotic junk.

The explosion tore the roof off; the screams mingled with explosions and fire. When she looked up, she saw the amber glow of Geonosian sky and dozens of TIE fighters. Stunned, Rey scrambled up to her shaky feet. Her lungs filled with smoke. She had been disoriented and half-deaf from the shock wave – a blaster just hit the ground next to the storage unit.

Leia screamed in vain to outshout the noise. "Bounty Hunters must have caught a signal of our base here. I knew Geonosis was too close to D'Qar."

"Run to the Falcon, Rey!" Luke screamed amidst the horrendous sound of exploding lasers.

"What about the others?"

"RUN!" Was the last thing she heard.

Rey sprinted as fast as she could; passing piles of rubble metal and stones. Geonosian tectonic plates were disturbed by detonations. The ground behind Rey parted, like a massive jaw prepared to swallow the whole planet. The ground released geysers of gas and steam; the air became even more unbreathable.

Rey flew by all of this with her eyes fixed on the outline of Millennium Falcon. If the ship got damaged, she wouldn't have the faintest idea where to run. She almost cried of joy when the trap door opened and Chewbacca helped her get up.

"Chewie, we have to get to Luke and Leia. You go behind the blaster and I'll try…"

Chewie's grunting of disapproval got lost in another deafening explosion. This time, it ripped the ground directly below the Falcon. The ship started spinning and sinking, as if being sucked into the quicksand.

"No, no, no," Rey chanted and pushed the gear all the way up. "Come on, go up, come on!" It didn't work. The ship lost its momentum, and the only thing the frightened crew felt was its descend into madness.

"Aarrr wwgggh waah!" Chewie roared.

"I can't jump to hyperspace," Rey cried out and grabbed the dashboard. She was lost. Nothing she could think of was good enough. She wasn't ready to die here, on the poisonous plane under tons of sand.

"I didn't escape one sandy coffin just to be buried here! Chewie, hold on." Rey grabbed his hand and tried to focus – an impossible task in current situation. The sounds were deafening, dozens of TIE bombers and X wings were crossing the sky in front of their shield. The rain of lasers and venomous gas created halo around all metallic objects.

Rey closed her eyes.

She returned to the very beginning when the Force flew through her. It was back, on Starkiller Base when she felt the electric current caressing her spine. Her breath got even and everything else disappeared. She fell out of this world, encumbered by the stars in the land of thousand suns. One heartbeat, two heartbeats - the whole outside world fell into the vacuum. She heard the bending of metal and only vaguely felt Chewie's grip.

She came back to the waterfall, where she balanced small petal above her palm. The ship merged with the flower and mass of metal became weightless in Rey's mind. She let out long, steady breath which wiggled the petal. At the same time, the ship rattled and teetered on the brink of the abyss.

"Calm yourself, just breathe," Rey whispered in a voice lost to the outside ear.

Millenium Falcon ascended out of the maelstrom. Hundreds of tons of titanium and steel were dangling only on the will of the Force, channeled by Rey. She did it, to her own surprise.

"Master, where are you? What should I do?" She whispered. The Force connected her with Luke.

"Go, now. Leave. We'll be safe. Run, Rey."

The rear of the ship leaned dangerously close to the ground again, which prompted Rey not to lose more time. She exchanged one last look with her co-pilot and soared to the sky, leaving Geonosis and her Master to their own fate. It took Rey and Chewie half an hour to come back to their senses. The mission didn't change for her, though. She was till determined to fly to Rakata and save her friends.

"Aarghh geerhhea rrgh."

"You're right. We should have gone through Corellian run. Nevermind now; we just have to be more careful and avoid that asteroid belt."

The Rimma trade route was the first set of coordinates that popped into Rey's head in the chaos of their take off. This frequented route led through Expansion regions and Inner rim. Rey and Chewie stood in the middle of the main cabin, overlooking three-dimensional hologram of the Galaxy. The map shed blue shadows on Rey's pensive face.

"It's too close to the Core worlds. We have to disjoint somewhere around Sullust and change the course North to the Unknown regions."

Quite a few corners of the Galaxy remained unexplored, even thousands of years after the invention of hyperspace travel. The very thought of it used to terrify Rey, always scavenging the same sand dunes on Jakku. Her world comprised of the scratches on the wall, half a portion a day and eternal sand. She never anticipated she would fly into the farthest regions of the known space.

"Don't worry," she said to a downcast looking Chewie. "We'll get to them in time. You know we'll do everything we can to save them."

Chewie gently patted Rey's shoulders. He finally put down his bowcaster and sat back on his co-pilot chair with legs sprawled across the dashboard. Gentle purring of the engines, typical for hyperdrive, pushed Rey's eyelids down. Still, one of the two in this miniature crew had to stay up at all costs.

Rey sat down behind the training table, poking a few dejarik figures. She didn't feel like playing by herself, so she retreated to her cabin. Half constructed lightsaber rested on the table.

"How did I forget you?" She brushed the silver handle, and then recoiled. BeeBee rolled into her chamber, peeking as if waiting for an invite. His diode beeped loudly.

"No, I can't do it alone. I'm not ready." Rey murmured. She regretted arguing with Luke about the kyber crystal. Why couldn't she have another, though?

"The greatest and final test to becoming a true Jedi is to make your own lightsaber," she imagined Luke's voice.

"Well, it's worth giving it a try." She sighed and sat on the floor. She crossed her legs into lotus position and grabbed the parts enshrouded in fabric. Various spins, screws, rings and other elements of the lightsaber lay mutely on the floor. Rey closed her eyes and tried to meditate. She cleared her mind of all distractions.

"Beep, booop, bop, beep," Bee Bee chirped.

"You're not helping, you know." Rey said. "Breathe in, breathe out, and repeat."

She had to channel the focus solely on the weapon. She knew how to do it, but for now, her attention led her elsewhere. She was thinking about Poe and Finn in the hands of the First Order. Then, she imagined Luke and Leia curled under concrete on Geonosis. The air colored red with her anger and fear. Her mind was far from the safe haven it needed to be for this task. She managed to levitate some parts. Few bolts hovered in the air, waiting for others to join them. They flew for a while, oscillated, and then fell to the ground.

"You need to concentrate your self-awarness away from your mind," a voice told her. She didn't recognize it. All of a sudden chill crept around her ankles.

Rey opened her eyes.

Luminous figure was standing in front of her. The man was young, dressed in maroon Jedi robes and smiling. His hair was golden and wavy, and his eyes kind. She heard of Force Ghosts before, but he exceeded all her expectations. The reality of this essence casually standing in her room bewildered her. Rey stood up and touched the man. Her hand passed empty air.

"Unfortunately, the Force can't bring back physical aspect of a being. But it's more dense and real than it looks," young man smiled.

Rey cleared her throat. "Who are you?"

Instead of an answer, he pointed on the broken lightsaber."You fought with mine, not long ago."

The last Jedi sword she fought with belonged to Luke Skywalker. What was this man talking about? "Are you Master Luke from the past? Or… future?" She asked in a small voice.

Ghost chuckled softly. "There are many abilities one can master in the Force, but time travel isn't one of them."

Rey's cheeks caught aflame. She had no idea how to approach him. She was in a presence of a very powerful force user. "Have you come to help me?" She nodded towards her lightsaber.

"Not with this. I came because one day, very soon, you will help me. Or rather, someone I care deeply about."

Those kind, sad eyes didn't plead with her. Rey looked into those pools of tranquility, as if she recognized them from the past. Black mask flickered in front of them for a brief moment.

"Who are you?" She asked again, this time in a firm voice. Fairer creatures caused her more harm on Jakku than ugly Unkar Plutt. Rey remained wary of his handsome face.

"You don't trust me. I don't blame you. I once held a child like you in my arms, she was but a newborn. Even through the armor shielding my touch, I could sense the immense Force in her. I feel the same within you. Maybe we have met, after all."

He closed the distance between the living and the dead. He was so close that his iridescent glow shone on Rey's face. One look into those eyes and she felt as if she was stargazing for hours.

She heard him breathing – could Force Ghosts breathe? Soft breathing changed into mechanical inhale and exhale, as if some kind of machine pumped oxygen into dead lungs. Each draw sucked the life force from anything that surrounded it. This breath sustained a machine, not a man.

Rey jumped back.

Heavy wheezing subsided and the man lowered his head; perhaps in shame – or was it regret?

"I heard you before! I heard those sounds and I saw your face behind the mask." Indeed, she saw the man before he became the dark creature. She witnessed it all in mind of Kylo Ren, during his interrogation on Starkiller Base, when she broke his walls. _You, you're afraid that you will never be as strong as…_

"You're him. You're Darth Vader!" She screamed.

The Galaxy had sinned once and the result was the abomination called Darth Vader. Here stood the one who purged the Jedi, killed democracy and threw Galaxy into half a century of chaos – the Emperor's wrath. The last Sith Apprentice, never to become a true Master; a father murdered by his own son.

Threads, long and soft as silk started looming in Rey's head. She felt connected to his tragedy on a deep, personal level. Her own Master took life of this man; then became the teacher who cultivated Force within her. But it was Kylo Ren, his grandson, who caused its awakening.

"I was Darth Vader, once. Anakin Skywalker was weak and foolish and darkness found him when he got lost. There was no hope for me, but there is still hope for him."

"Patricide runs in your family, Vader. Do you know Ren killed Han Solo? I saw it. I saw him murder his own father in cold blood. What hope is there?" Rey's hands curled into fists swaying by her sides. She would kill Kylo Ren on the spot, if she could – such was the extent of her fury.

"Do you know why I'm rushing across hundreds of star systems in a half-broken ship? To save my friends, the people I love, who your grandson is probably torturing at this very moment. "Her voice rose higher and higher.

She was so upset and distracted that she missed the clanking sound of metal fusing together. Parts of the lightsaber were floating in the air and one by one, clicking into the handle. Her passion gave life to metal; her wrath pulsed and charged the red crystal.

"I hate him and I hope he'll pay for what he did." Her eyebrows pulled together. Her heart was beating so fast she struggled to catch a breath.

At the pinnacle of Rey's rage, wires and bolts jingled together just in time to fly into her outstretched hand. She wasn't thinking straight – the only thing she desired was to be free of Vader's spirit.

 _Kill him. Even if he can't die – kill him again, and again._

The time slowed down as the lightsaber buzzed and ignited in a fiery red color. She screamed as one swift movement cut the empty air, the very spot where Darth Vader stood. He didn't evaporate in pieces; neither did his ghost sparkle in the mist. He was there– and then, he simply wasn't anymore. If Rey didn't feel the heat and pressure of the Force, she would have thought the whole exchange happened in her head.

Amazed, she stared at her new lightsaber.

"Incredible," she whispered wide eyed. The elegant weapon didn't feel entirely hers, though. Powered by Ren's crystal and constructed in the presence of his grandfather – this lightsaber felt attached to the Skywalker family forever. And so did Rey.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 _"_ _Run to the Falcon, Rey!"_

 _"_ _What about the others?"_

"Run!" Luke roared till his padawan obeyed and rushed away. He watched Rey disappear in the cloud of smoke, while shielding Leia with his own body.

"No," Leia tried to turn around him, "your life is more valuable than mine. Go with her!"

His sister was just as stubborn as he remembered. "I won't abandon you. You _are_ the Resistance; without you, there's no one to fight the First Order."

"Without you, there's no one to fight my son!" She said desperately. Luke and Leia exchanged one last glance before he offered her his hand. With an impish smile, she took it; embracing once again the role of Leia Organa – fighter for all those who can't fight themselves.

They started bludgeoning their way out of the Resistance base, preferably towards a ship to get them to safety. They evaded blaster shots from TIE bombers while leaping over deep craters dredged in the ground.

"Watch out," a pilot in orange uniform caught her before the fall. Leia stumbled once, then twice, before gazing upwards. Bright face of a comely young man with dark hair smiled at her.

"I'm Temmin Wexley, pilot of Blue Squadron, ma'am."

Leia glared at him. "It's General for you, pilot. Do you have a ship?"

Luke caught a TIE fighter crashing to the ground just in time to run from the collision. The Force repelled the shuttle spinning frantically around its own axis; like a mechanical falling comet destined to squash them. All Resistance fighters on the ground were watching the Jedi Master with hitched breath.

"Luke!" Leia felt a tug back – an invisible hand had her locked, unable to rush to her brother's side. Luke was concentrating on diverting TIE fighter from its course, while holding Leia from interfering. Had she rushed to his side, he wouldn't have been able to channel the Force. When the TIE bomber crashed few feet away from them, Leia's patience had gone through the roof.

"Stop this! No more Jedi heroics; we want to make it out alive, not in style. Pilot," she turned to flabbergasted young man. "Do we have that ship or not?"

"There's an old V-wing airspeeder in the hangar. We should be able to squeeze there, all three of us." He added, sizing up his belly and Leia's frame.

"I know the days of sliding down the trash compactor are behind me, soldier. But I have no idea why we _shouldn't_ squeeze in." She grabbed both men by the elbow." Get us there, Webley."

"It's Wexley, ma'am."

The look Leia gave him silenced him for the duration of whole sprint to the hangar.

Once they boarded rustic looking airspeeder, they soared up to the sky. Despite the velocity, Wexley dodged every incoming blast and laser shot thrown in their way. They were hovering in the atmosphere on the other side of Geonosis, hiding in the gas of its humongous planetary ring. No one knew how much time passed when a large Resistance freighter came to pick them up, following standard protocol in case of emergency.

"The First Order's tactic paid off. Atharian bounty hunters found us first, just like we suspected, Geonosis wasn't safe." Ackbar reported. While Leia assumed the role of General and joined Admiral Ackbar and other high tier commanders, Luke retreated to the shadows of the freighter.

He felt a great disturbance in the Force, a shift of vast magnitude; having to do with his padawan. Rey got out unharmed – he sensed her presence. The Force divided the master and his apprentice before she had a chance to complete her training. If Rey got caught and unable to defend herself, the fault would lie with him. The responsibility Luke felt for her was eating his heart away. Undoubtedly, the brave girl was on her way to rescue Finn and Poe.

"Each padawan covets to complete his training, it's in their nature." Obi-Wan's voice reminded him.

That was precisely the thing Luke feared the most. If Rey found a way to Rakata – to Kylo Ren – she would be tempted to join him. For all his nudging and prodding to the dark side, Ren wouldn't have to try very hard. The Force would fight for the balance on its own. The Master on the side of darkness clings to the apprentice of light. The darkness wants to corrupt the light, to seduce it, just as the light yearns to absolve the darkness of its sins. If Rey and Kylo bonded, it would change the course of the Galaxy. It wouldn't be the first time a bond that strong washed blood from Sith hands.

"I have to get to Rakata as soon as possible," he told Leia whose disapproving opinion he already knew. "The Resistance's best pilot and a fearless ex- stormtrooper are captured. Doesn't the Resistance owe it to them? I sent them to Ord Mantell – I'm responsible for their capture."

"This isn't about Poe Dameron and Finn, is it?" Leia frowned.

"We can't run from this forever, Leia."

"I am not running. I've just accepted the truth – I can't have my child back. I'll never see my boy again. I thought there was still light in him and look what I've done. I sent Han to his death."

"You would give up on him?" Luke asked.

"I'm not giving up on him. I don't know what lies beyond the realm of this world and I pray to see Ben again… but Kylo Ren – him I can't save. The girl told me about Han's death." Tears were falling freely down Leia's cheek. She didn't even notice, such was her grief; a part of her that she didn't try to hide or fight.

"Luke," her voice trembled," Rey told me. It was Ben Solo on that bridge, for a moment – not Snoke's puppet. When he asked Han for help, that was my scared boy. How could he do this?"

"I'm not going to defend him, but you don't understand." Luke whispered. " _If only you knew the power of the dark side_." Vader's voice echoed in his mind all those years after battle of Endor. His father – no matter how misguided – was right.

"You can't feel the pull of darkness as a trained Jedi. It's alluring and you get drunk on the power itself. Then, when it's too late, you don't even feel remorse for your actions. The dark side clouds your judgment, it consumes you and never lets go. That's why it's the easier path – you don't have to question your values anymore. Nothing is good or bad; the white and black disappear in the sea of red. The only way is the way of anger."

Always strong and composed, Leia was now sitting with head in her hands. She truly didn't understand, but she would have died to. "Couldn't you have saved him, Luke? Couldn't I? What went wrong?"

Luke crouched besides her. He held her hand. "Do you recall the day when you and Han visited him in my academy? Before he turned eleven…"

Leia nodded. It was one of the rare times when hers and Han's schedules aligned to visit together. Her politics and his missions converged and left little room for their son.

Luke smiled. "You asked how he was and how his training progressed; if he had friends or if the children were mean to him. Do you remember what I told you?"

"You said that he was the happiest padawan in your academy," a weak smile graced her lips.

"And he was. Children didn't taunt him. He was always the best and at the centre of attention. He tried so hard to make me proud – and he did. I couldn't be more proud of my nephew. He craved knowledge; he devoured holocrons like I've never seen before. I fear he might have found something inside that turned him from light; from us." Luke sighed, holding his sister close.

She would have bore this a lot better if her son's fall was justified. He wished he could help her. Not all monsters were forged at the sound of fire and steel, in pain and solitude. Some did monstrous things while deeply loved, with a glint in their eyes; that lust for power and self-satisfaction.

"Perhaps the legacy played a role in all this." Luke said after sharing this tender moment.

"We didn't turn evil just because we're Vader's children." Leia protested.

"But we never knew – that is the whole point. I was a farm boy and you were a princess. Who knows what would have happened if we grew up knowing what our father was capable of. A man in the shadows of the Empire, the one who spread fear and basked in the glory of the dark side…no one can tell, now."

"Go, then. Tell Webly to take you on one of the adjacent cargo ships. Resistance can afford to lose one of those. Go save those two and the girl."

"I'm not going to save her. I'm going to watch her make a decision which will determine the fate of us all." Luke said and kissed Leia goodbye. His lips lingered on her forehead, while she enveloped her arms around his torso.

"May the Force be with you, dearest brother." Leia said, praying that the Force would take mercy on the Skywalker family one last time.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The world felt like a trap. He felt trapped in his mask, in his apprenticeship, in his life. The mechanism into which he got caught worked with neurological precision. The only deviation from this linearity was the girl. Of course, she followed him to save her moronic friends. Naturally, she got herself caught.

She got caught and now he had to deal with her. If Snoke was indeed on this planet, he'd already sensed both of them. Kylo Ren gently caressed her cheek. Last time he gave her the courtesy of a rack, like any other prisoner. This time, she was strapped to a pole; her hands bound behind her back.

He sensed her waking up – she pretended to sleep. Well, if this was how she wanted to play, he'd provide the instruments. He walked in already unmasked – no point in hiding his face. He wanted her to see that scar, to be reminded of her viciousness. One moment; one sway of her saber and she marked him forever. He brushed hair form his face and took her lightsaber.

He rolled it in his hand, stroked it and studied it. The design was flawless.

"I expected nothing less from you, Jedi." He smirked. Again, the room hummed in silence. "I know you're awake."He dropped the lightsaber and focused that maniacal gaze on her. She had his undivided attention; that should tell her what would follow. Her head was still resting on her chest.

"You won't get out of here by pretending you're a rag doll." He said.

She was channeling the Force – he could feel it. He had to keep her distracted until he figured out what to do with her.

"Your boring voice is to blame," she muttered. "It makes me fall asleep, but keep talking. I know it makes you feel important."

Ren smiled. They knew each other so well through the Force that their banter felt familiar; almost desired by them both.

Rey's head shot up. She opened her eyes, making herself vulnerable to his scrutiny. Ren walked towards her with his typical poise – the billowing robes, the heavy footsteps supporting the bulk of his frame. She sized him up; then averted her eyes.

"What now?" He asked. "Am I going to kill you, train you – or torture you? What do you suggest I do with you?"

"Lead me to my friends and let us all go?" She said in a sarcastic voice. She could afford behaving like this. She was in as much danger strapped around the pole as he was free. The Force knew no obstacles. They could damage each other without even being in the same room.

"Why are you bothering with me at all?" Rey's hands started to hurt. The magnetic shackles cut into her skin.

"You know we are connected. Whether you admit it or not, the Force keeps us apart, yet forever together. I don't think I want to kill you." Ren leaned closer, so close she felt his breath raising goosebumps on her neck. Droplets of sweat were sliding down her nape and temples. Rey returned his bold stare. He saw specks of green in her eyes. Why would he find it so fascinating? Was it lust? Did he desire her?

"Implausible." He whispered.

"What?" She asked, confused.

It couldn't be mere desire. He was interested in the power of the Force and not temporary pleasures. Rey was powerful. She embodied the light side of the Force; the path he found so hard to thread.

"I can't save you if you won't stand by me. If you only but agree to be my student, you are guaranteed to live. You'll feel the Force like you have never dreamed of. Your mind can't imagine the power we could wield together."

Rey gulped. He could read her thoughts; just as she did his. There would be no point in denying.

"We met twice in our life. We wanted to kill each other both of them. Why would I want to join you?"Her lips tinted red and her breath became more laborious.

Ren narrowed his eyes. She felt the same amount of desire as he; the longing which transcended anything physical.

"I'm not a brainwashed little brat," he stepped back to have a better look at her. "I know you think you understand my past because you've seen me in a vision. I felt your presence. I can always tell…"He recoiled.

He caught himself revealing too much. He had to be careful with this girl to whom it felt so easy; so right to reveal his secrets. Rey just stood there, stranded; thinking about lack of blood flow in her wrists and the way to incapacitate Ren. She didn't fear him. She feared for her friends. While his sick fascination with her kept her safe, they were still in peril.

Something disrupted the very fabric of their reality. Kylo looked around; looking for the source of imbalance. Rey bit her lip, focusing on him, instead of freeing her hands. His dark mask fell in front of her. She got to know the power hungry, efficient machine. Then, she saw a killer in action. Lastly, he offered her a partnership. She heard gurgling of water in the distance. The shackles probably limited blood supply to her head. She must have imagined things.

"Can you hear it? Can you hear the water?" Rey asked.

Ren didn't answer – he was gazing at her hands, free of handcuffs.

"You know you're free, right?" He asked her.

"What?" Rey's hands dropped automatically to her sides.

She swung them in the air, as if needing reassurance she truly was unbound. Did he release her? Did she use the Force to get free? Again, a ripple surged through the air. The whole scenery started collapsing on itself. The very earth spun and shook like a dying engine.

Ren's instinct kicked in before his limbs caught up to his brain. His first move was to catch her and make sure she didn't fall. Rey gladly embraced his arms. Only when she felt the coarse black fabric on her fingers; and he felt her light frame brush his side, did they look at each other in horror.

They were standing below their waterfall. Gone was the torture chamber, the pole, the reality as they knew it.

"What is this? Why do we always end up here?" Rey's pleading eyes demanded the answer from him.

Kylo recovered from his initial shock. Never in his life had he experienced this kind of vision. Whether in Jedi training or under Snoke's leadership, he controlled his meditations. He let the Force flow as he wanted. To not having a slightest idea that he wasn't physically there with her frightened him.

"I don't know," he admitted slowly. "I didn't bring us here. It must have been you. You better focus on your training and not let this happen again. Jedi's body is vulnerable in this state. You don't know what can enter your mind, what influences lurk in the shadows of the Force."

They caught each other staring. Everything felt different under their waterfall. _Their_ place – the one only they shared in a string of visions more pleasing than things he recently experienced. The feeling of tenderness he felt when he caught her was gone, too. He realized who she was – the scavenger turned Jedi, the enemy of the First Order, just a nobody from Jakku. But was she truly _his_ enemy?

"Believe me, I didn't want to be here." Ray said.

Strong wind blew in their direction. Rey walked past him. Something caught her attention.

He stood behind her. "What is it?"

"I thought I saw something," she glanced at him across her shoulder. He felt fear rising in her. She had turned her back on him and that made her feel vulnerable.

"I think we've established that we can't really hurt each other in this place." Kylo said in gentle voice.

Rey ambled towards that 'something' she conjured up in her imagination. A set of voices got carried in the air. One was deep and guttural – man's voice. The other sounded like wind chimes ringing in gentle breeze. Ren must have heard it too, for his forehead smoothed and he followed her.

" _Ani, stop it."_

 _"_ _You thought I was hurt…"_ man laughed mirthfully.

" _Don't do that to me again!_ " girl in yellow dress swatted his hand. His look of longing carried such an emotional charge, both Rey and Kylo felt it. The girl and the boy started rolling in the high grass, circling the meadow. The gorgeous meadow by the waterfall must have had a significant meaning for this couple. But why did it keep calling Ren and Rey?

"This was their spot," Rey said.

She forgot about him, until she felt him. Ren's proximity caught her by surprise. He stood behind her, close – so close she could lean on him if she moved an inch. When he spoke, she felt vibrations in his chest. His body radiated warmth and comfort.

"I know why we've been led here." He said.

Rey had to crane her neck to look at him. He was gazing down on a Sun he'd never noticed before.

"Ani," Rey smiled at man's affectionate nickname."Can you see him? Can you see your grandfather's happiness? Why would you want to destroy everything he loved?"

"It's nothing but a weakness; a foolish sentiment which he had the wisdom to smother at its birth." Kylo Ren said, looking into those eyes with specks of green.

Rey quickly distanced herself from him. He immediately missed how her petite frame fit into him; like a missing piece.

"How can you not see that this was the happiest moment in Vader's life? You," she bore her small finger into his broad chest. "You, who strive to be just like Darth Vader understand nothing. You killed your own father! You are murdering those who love you – he was fighting for them."

"I haven't murdered you, have I?" He whispered, catching her wrist in his hand.

Rey's lips trembled. Tears formed in her eyes, so overwhelmed she felt at the moment. She pitied the man she was supposed to hate. His black eyes flickered for a split second, just a glimpse of red appeared in the irises.

Ren's lips curled up. He leaned closer to her. She wanted to see if she dreamed that glint of red – that was what she told herself to justify her action. She stood on her toes to close the height difference.

He was bowing down to his Sun. She was reaching for the dark Moon. Their lips brushed past each other. He barely tasted her. And then his forehead met with empty space.

He was jolted back to his physical form. He couldn't breathe. Hyperventilating, he scrambled from bed and ran to the nearest source of light. He was still on the star destroyer, flying to the Rakata Prime to meet Snoke. He was still alive. He was still Kylo Ren – the one who would kill the Jedi girl, if he had the chance.

He was still lying to himself.

He knew one thing when he regained composure. The Force had shown him Darth Vader's past and his future. The girl was a part of it, whether he wanted to admit it or not. 

* * *

**A/N Yup, the waterfall = Naboo. I bear** **no love for the prequels, but even I have to admit that place was pretty magnificent and important for Kylo and Rey. The Force will be bringing them together soon…**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

In all her vastness, some corners of the Galaxy inspired fear and cautiousness. Those were to be avoided; or passed in a hurry. But there were some regions untouched by man for millennia. Those planets, barely accessible by hyper drive, earned spots on pages of charred chronicles, which described them as monster regions. In the heart of the Unknown Territories orbited one such world – Rakata Prime. And in the heart of planet Rakata Prime stood an ivory temple.

Dense jungle covered it from prying eyes. The structure consisted of a wide disc with a tall, conical summit. Few knew of its existence. Even fewer could lower the force field to enter it. Kylo Ren was gazing on that temple from distance of several miles.

"Keep them in check," he said to the stoormtroopers who accompanied him. These inept soldiers let the Resistance pilot and the traitor FN-21 87 roam too freely. Both were bound and fatigued from his interrogation, but he wouldn't take any chances. One escapee was enough to take all measures necessary.

Ren took them on the trek to the temple. He needed the live bait when the stubborn Jedi would have landed to rescue them. He was still recovering from the vision Force had shown him. It was an odd mixture of future and past - his desires and his greatest fear. The compassionate nature towards Rey would be his undoing. He had to purge himself of these inclinations. The conflict within him grew, like a cluster of dead cells devouring an organism.

Poe's feet crossed in front of one another mechanically. Finn didn't look much better.

"Pssst," Finn hissed. "Can you feel it?" He sneaked closer to his friend.

Poe nodded. "This place is foul. The air is too stale and the sand too fluid. If we don't choke, we might get sucked in the ground. We gotta get out of here…"

Poe and Finn trudged behind Ren, exchanging furtive glances. Poe regretted sending that emergency signal. Seeing the planet; he'd rather Resistance didn't find them here.

"I don't wanna have death of my pilots on my conscience. We have to try and escape on our own."

Kylo Ren swiveled on the spot. His arm shot up in the air and Poe fell to the ground, unable to breathe.

"Stop it!" Finn pleaded.

"You will be quiet, or I'll take care of you personally. After all, only one of you will do for my plans." He released Poe. Ren tapped into their emotions; and surprisingly, he felt it too. The oppressive waves in the air distorted his vision. Unexpected shadows crept from the bushes; sounds of drumming and loud breathing got carried from the woods.

Kylo's mask protected his startled look, but he didn't walk into the unknown with head held high. Simmering heat wave produced strange mirage against the sun. The earth crunched under their feet, layered with cracked sand.

Finally, they arrived at the base of the temple.

"Wait here. Contain the prisoners in a magnetic field cage. Under no circumstances leave them alone. You are to wait here for my further orders. If I return in ten minutes, or ten hours; you will not break my commands. Shoot anything that moves on sight."

Ren ascended up the cobble steps. He evened his breathing and cleared his mind. With great mental effort, he pressed against raised force shields. Breaking the barrier sounded like a resonance of thin metal sheet; as if the sky thundered without the storm. Finally, it fell. His energy penetrated the walls of the temple.

"Supreme Leader, I need your assistance again. Guide my steps towards you. Make me worthy to finish my training." Ren spoke the invocation softly and stepped into the darkness.

He touched something hard and slimy. No light shone inside; so he drew his lightsaber and ignited it. Red immediately landed on two rows of statues parted by a wide corridor.

The statues looked amphibian – they were tributes to the old Rakata race. Ren was walking and thinking only about what he _mustn't_ think in front of Snoke. He cursed inwardly. Damn her; the girl. She occupied his thoughts even if he pondered how to expel her from them.

A presence of powerful force user hit him.

"At last, you have come." Snoke's throaty voice reverberated in the distance. Ren arrived in a magnificent hall, lit in blue neons radiating from hologram figures. Leader he was, indeed – but not as supreme as Ren had imagined. Supreme Leader Snoke was sitting on his usual throne; straight and composed. This was the first time a padawan laid eyes on his master in person.

Snoke was around seven feet tall, clad in a simple black robe. His face reminded Ren a slashed canvas; ravaged by many scars and burns. The gash in his lower jaw looked worse in person than when Ren saw him as a hologram. The tendons and ligaments crawled to the surface and moved as he spoke.

"I have been waiting for this day, Kylo Ren. Look around you and appreciate this place. It was built thirty thousand years ago. Come, see the homage to the Force I had established."

Snoke got up, beckoning his student. The stone walls were adorned with hundreds of lightsabers which transitioned from useful weapons to mere relics. In the middle grew a tree, the very same his knights stole from the village on Ord Mantell. Masks and pieces of armor stood on display by the holograms.

"Even if the old Sith Empire crumbled, one can appreciate their art." Snoke nodded. Kylo Ren felt like a child in a gallery. They stopped in front of the white skull mask covered in two red stripes. _Darth Nihilus_ , Ren heard a tremor in his mind. He took off his own mask.

"This display serves a greater purpose than to awe you. Each fragment is charged in Force and I can show you how to harness it."

"Harness the Force – form the non-living things?" Ren asked astonished.

"Yes. There were some Sith Lords who could devour the life Force from the living organisms… I perfected the art. "Snoke said. "After all, I had nothing but time to experiment."

Whispers echoed in the hall, thousands of voices mingling and trying to tell their tale.

"If you but listen, you shall learn that the Force transcends time and space, even bodies and minds."

"Tell me, Supreme Leader, is this the end of my training?"

"I have not been hiding here for hundreds of years in vain, Ren. Patience is the key to understanding one's desires. You want it to be the end, don't you?"

Ren struggled to control his voice. "I have killed all the Jedi there were left. I have procured rare artifacts from the tombs of Korriban for you, Supreme Leader. I have overseen the construction of the Starkiller Base and fought against the Resistance. I have never questioned or doubted your orders, even if I don't know your plans. I killed my father and my knights. Don't I deserve to become a true Sith Lord?"

"A Sith?" Snoke spat offended. "I've seen the Sith'ari rise and fall again and again. Their passion was their ultimate weakness. Forget that cultish order, my neophyte. Peace is a lie, but so is passion, _There is only Force_ ; and the four people in the whole Galaxy trained to use it. Three are standing in this hall."

"Three?" Ren's eyes widened.

"Come out, child. Come and meet your maker." Snoke called into the darkness.

The darkness called back.

...

* * *

 **A/N Well, two chapters today since they're connected. Their anticipation before meeting is killing me. The big showdown is coming 3 I'm enjoying these last few chapters when they're apart, bc I realized that the majority of the third act will feature them together, A LOT.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Chewbacca slept like a log. Wookies never had much trouble falling asleep - waking up was the real struggle. The cries must have been pretty intense when they interrupted his slumber. When Chewie found Rey curled up on the floor, he didn't know what to do. Would it help if he comforted her? Should he ask her what was wrong? She sobbed about ghosts and waterfalls. He ended up just holding her, stroking her hair softly. He saw why Han took a liking to this girl. He watched over her that night. When they landed on Rakata, she slid one blaster behind her belt and the other in her thigh holster.

"Don't look at me like that, Chewie. I'm fine," the words contradicted her red-rimmed eyes. She gently brushed her lightsaber and handed him the bowcaster. Ever since he shot Kylo Ren, Chewie developed distaste for his trademark weapon.

"Aaaarghhh hhu aaar." He protested.

Rey opened Falcon door. "I know. But we have to try. They're my friends and they would have done the same. They _did_." She sighed, thinking how Finn rushed to her rescue on Starkiller base.

Chewie grunted again.

"No, nothing reckless. I swear." Rey said. "BeeBee, keep the engines in emergency mode. We don't know when we need to dash out of here." She crouched next to her droid friend. She received three reassuring beeps, stepped out of the Falcon and led the way into the jungle.

Navicomputer on the ship calculated coordinates of Poe's distress signal to yards. Rey threw a small disc into the air. The disc scanned the area and within half a minute constructed three dimensional model of the terrain. Red dot was blinking two miles west from them.

"Here," she pointed on the dot. "We better get going."

Rey pitied Chewie – she could barely tolerate the humidity. His fur must have warmed him like a furnace. Indeed, he lagged behind her. They found a small pond of freshwater. Rey immediately rinsed her hair and neck.

"How strange," she marveled at her reflection in the water. She wasn't used to seeing her hair around her face. She wore her three buns as a sign of recognition for the family that was never coming back.

They moved like ants on a mountain. Not only was the silence crucial to their cover hard to keep, but their feet dug deeper into the quicksand. Rey gazed upon a large Moon of Rakata Prime; so big, that it permanently covered good portion of the sky.

"I feel something, Chewie," she whispered. Great veil descended upon the planet; a Force cloaked in the body of a man. She felt the presence of another Force user. They were hiking till dusk. The Moon shone like a large saucer, illuminating the jungle path.

"To hell with this stupid tropical hole of a planet?" Rey interpreted Chewie's grunting. "Come on, it's not that ba-" A hand grabbed her mouth from behind; the other had locked Chewbacca in a rigid, statuesque posture.

"Master!" Rey shared her thoughts with Luke Skywalker.

"I am sorry for the rude entrance, but I didn't want to give you a cause to scream." Luke released them. He pulled down his cape and gestured to someone else. Man dressed in pilot uniform stepped from behind a tree.

"We've come to help you. This is Wexley, Poe Dameron's subordinate."

"…and friend. "Wexley shook Rey's hand.

"I shouldn't have left you on Geonosis, Master. I'm sorry."

Luke raised his hand. "We're all safe. The Resistance suffered minimal loses and Leia is well and commanding another new faction. It's just a minor setback. Now, let us concentrate on task at hand."

The four rescuers were crouching by the trees, very close to the temple. They heard talking of stormtroopers and buzzing of the force field cage.

Rey closed her eyes. "They're alive," she murmured.

Strange foreboding replaced the sense of relief. She felt it – powerful tug of a hypnotizing presence in her navel. She had to dig her fingers into bark of a tree. Her eyelids fluttered, absorbing images of one face.

"He's here," her voice rose in panic," Kylo Ren is here."

"I know." Luke squeezed her shoulder. "I felt his presence since we landed. Rey, don't give into this bond you've formed. It's too dangerous. If you can sense him – he can sense you."

"It's not a bond – and it didn't happen only now." She turned to Luke. Telling the truth didn't liberate her as she had hoped. "Master," tears filled her eyes. "We're connected and I don't know if I'm strong enough not to follow the calling."

Just as Luke was about to reply, laser beam flew above their heads. It burnt a giant hole into the tree. Stormtroopers rallied around them, firing all at once. The rescue party retaliated with the same fervor. Chewie's bowcaster got three of them at the same time. Wexley and Luke stood their ground as well.

Rey barely evaded incoming blast, when the party split. While Luke and the rest distracted the troopers, she rushed deeper into the jungle, circumventing the fighting ground to get to Finn and Poe. Palm leaves were slicing her legs and face like razors. Her feet stumbled on rocks and underbrush. She trekked deep enough to hear only nocturnal wildlife around her. Then, she swiveled back south. Few minutes later, she spotted her friends. Poe and Finn were huddled in the middle of the blue force field cage. They were trying hard not to touch the laser grid.

"What the…" Finn bumped into Poe when the two guards got knocked into the nearest tree.

"Rey!" they cried in unison.

"How do I disable this?" She asked instead of greeting.

"How about blasting it with the thing?" Finn quickly pointed on her thigh-blaster. Rey shook her head. Ren's presence distracted her so much she couldn't see straight. Once she fired at the gadget, the cage disintegrated and both Poe and Finn leapt into her arms.

Their embrace didn't bring her comfort. She didn't share their relief and happiness or the will to fight. Rey saw only the outline of the temple, and in the outline shone her destiny.

"Go help the others," she implored. They got lost in the ramble of the battle. Rey sneaked closer and closer to the temple.

"Stop, please." Luke called. He walked towards her holding his lightsaber.

Rey's head dropped under weight of the struggle. "I can't." She clutched her chest," I didn't choose this. I can feel the Force kindling every atom in my body. Master, I must face him."

"He's not going to show you mercy!" Luke's wide eyes begged her to see reason. "There's a way to fight the darkness, but not while struggling in its shadow. You're tempted; you're not ready yet."

She climbed few more steps before he physically restrained her. "No, Rey! You don't know… you don't understand the hold Snoke has on him. It's not how it seems. Ben didn't just fall to the dark side, _I_ sent him there." His face was reliving the horrors of the past.

Rey jerked away. So, it began. The padawan went against his Master – the cycle repeated itself each generation. Luke's stare broke Rey's heart.

"I went into hiding because I couldn't bear the burden of my failure. I failed him, I failed the Galaxy. No one knows, not Han – not even his mother."

"I'm not doing this to punish you, Master. I'm not betraying you. I have to face him once and for all. He haunts my dreams; he clouds my thoughts. I can't be torn apart… I can't…I'm sorry."

Rey channeled the anxiety and fear she felt, pushing her Master away with the Force. Luke fought back. Two outstretched hands met in the air, one trying to subdue the other. Jedi rarely succumbed to the raw emotion. How could Luke fight without it, though? He was destined to lose if he went with calm against passion. She overpowered him, the Jedi following the ancient code of long buried order. He flew only few feet into the shrubbery. She meant him no real harm.

Rey's aura invaded the temple.

The concentration of the Force inside attacked her senses. She was blind, yet she could see. Her ears were bursting with myriad of whispers, yet she heard only _his_ voice. She ran in the dark – she knew the way. Deep breathing echoed in the cavernous corridors, her legs carried her automatically. She rushed towards the voice she would have recognized among thousands in the starless night.

 _"_ _I have never questioned or doubted your orders, even if I don't know your plans. I killed my father and my knights. Don't I deserve to become a true Sith Lord?"_

She had to hug herself to still her quivering body. Something was wrong with her. She felt it from her very birth. The Fates stripped her of identity, her family and now her sanity. How could she be so drawn to this killer?

 _"_ _Peace is a lie, but so is passion. There is only Force."_ Another voice said. Yes, she thought, the Force - destructive and chaotic power which turned her life upside down.

"Reyata…Reyata…come on, my child." Sinister voice croaked. This one, she hard only inside her head.

 _"…_ _and four people in the entire Galaxy trained to use it. Three are standing in this hall._ Come out, child. Come and meet your maker."

That final call pushed her over the edge. "Yes, Master," she answered and walked into the open door.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 _._

* * *

 _"I was angry at my friend. I told my wrath, my wrath did end."(W. Blake)_

 _._

* * *

Kylo's conflicted mind barely processed who had walked into the hall. The moment he saw her, all the rage spilled to the surface. She invaded his sacred space. She was going to take the wisdom which should have belonged to him. She would usurp his place as Snoke's chosen one.

Kylo Ren's hard stare chilled her to the bone. If it wasn't for the blue light from holograms, his dark eyes would seem dead. His presence absorbed life from the stone itself. Rey felt drawn to Snoke. Her confused mind had already bestowed title of Master on this wretched creature. She didn't mean it, but the pull to the dark side was too strong.

Kylo walked towards her. She didn't move.

Both ignored Snoke, standing on the outskirts of their world. Ren stopped few feet away from her. The hall shone red. Which one ignited their lightsaber first? Rey didn't feel anything except drumming of her heart. Without averting her gaze, she flicked her wrist. Both twirled their weapons, ready for combat. Little did they know, they were already engaged in the battle of wills. Kylo Ren kept gazing into her eyes, looking for those specks of green. She nodded, dared him to strike first.

"Poetic justice, isn't it? For a fallen Jedi and half-trained Sith to meet here, in the very first temple any race in Galaxy had ever used the Force." Supreme Leader Snoke awoke them from their stupor.

"You," Kylo pointed tip of his lightsaber to her chest," you don't belong here." He didn't mean the temple. She didn't belong with him. "This has to end, once and for all."

He looked at Snoke. His Master remained mute. Before Ren reacted, she struck first. Her blow followed a war cry.

"I don't want to see you in my sleep; I don't want your visions. I hate you…" She sounded like a spurned child.

That moment, they weren't fighting for the good or evil. They couldn't stand each other's presence. Their mutual passion led to hatred; so they decided to kill it. Ren hit aggressively, aiming at her bare hands, her head, her torso… everywhere but the sabre. But everytime he landed a blow, her blade was there to divert it. Their sabers burst into crackling frenzy.

"Aargh!" He screamed in frustration; and struck again. One… two… three – each second meant new beat of their lightsabers; they fought too quickly to keep track.

She stepped boldly into him, forcing him to back down. For her each step forward, he took two steps back, slashing like a bloodthirsty animal. At times, one couldn't tell where her sword ended and his began. Two fiery columns were clashing together so quickly, that sparks rained from the sky.

"Ahhh!" Rey cried in agony as his crossguard grazed her arm. Ren smelled the burn he had caused. It sickened him to the core. He instinctively eased back, not realizing what he was doing. He let her heave up and down, hunched, clutching her arm.

"Don't hold back," she spat through gritted teeth, wiping small trickle of blood.

He snickered, making circles around her. Then, he sobered up. He didn't like the mischievous grin on Rey's face.

"What are you…"Before he asked, she thrust her arm in the air. Another lightsaber detached from the wall and flew into her hand. She was now twirling two red laser blades, swinging them in front of her chest. One beam was crossing another.

"Impressive, Jedi," Ren said bemused. This momentary distraction cost him – she slashed the end of his robes, slicing his shin open. He roared and immediately discarded his outer robes.

Both were sweating and panting from much more than pain. Their moves were too identical, too alike to catch the other by surprise. He fought attuned to her movements, and Rey kept hacking where she knew he would anticipate. They didn't do it consciously. Snoke felt it, this melody of the Force overlapping their individual tones, merging them in one. He saw only one other pair fighting to the death in such lethal harmony.

"You won't last long," Ren taunted her.

She knew he was right. He spun around and directed all the momentum into one swift blow. One of the sabers flew from her hands. Rey backed to the wall. She eyed her one remaining weapon; pleading for to the Force to guard her. Rey raised her lighsaber just in time to connect with his offensive blow.

They clashed.

Sweat was running on both on their faces; the heat of the magma beam felt unbearable. She started to accept those final moments. That alone shocked him. He looked into the eyes of a fighter aware of her impending end. The Moon was extinguishing his Sun.

"It didn't have to be this way," his voice sounded pained. "It's on you. If you only listened!" He screamed, trying to outshout the sparkling of their blades.

 _She had to stop him_. She had to, not for her sake, but for Leia's, Luke's and the future of the whole galaxy. She saw what he was capable of. She couldn't let him unleash his doom on innocent people. He was going to kill her – she had to at least take him with her. If it meant sacrificing herself, so be it.

Something in the Force shifted. The second Rey's life stopped being the thing she was defending from Ren, the Force armed her.

"Never," she whispered."It could never be any other way than this." She stepped into him; flesh embraced the flesh.

Immense pressure tore the lightsaber from his hand. The Sun eclipsed the Moon. He was at her mercy – and she didn't feel merciful. The time slowed down infinitely as she marched towards defenseless Ren. He stumbled and staggered, groping the wall behind him.

She raised the saber and looked into his eyes. He didn't plead for his life. If he feared to die, he didn't show it. The desire to connect with him through the Force was hitting her in waves. He merely smirked; like a proud Master bested by his pupil. If he was to die, he would have welcomed it to be in the hands of the last dark Jedi.

Her right hand quivered in pain. The wound ran too deep; it didn't cauterize the muscle right away. Rey pushed the smell and the blood at the back of her mind.

Then, she struck.

Her hit froze inches from Ren's face. She was gritting her teeth, putting every ounce of energy into lowering the blade. Just an inch more; just a smidgeon down and it would scorch his eyelashes. She couldn't do it, even though her nails dug deep into the handle. She cried out in pain she should not have been feeling in her position. She had the upper hand, but something locked her body, prevented it from moving. He could have ducked, he could have rolled over and she would have missed. Why didn't he? He kept those dark orbs fixated on her pained face. She felt the sulfuric smell of burnt hair, as the crackles from the blade chaffed his shoulders.

The lightsaber dropped, melting the concrete below. Neither of them had control over their bodies anymore. Invisible pressure forced both fighters to kneel. Rey, fatigued by the fight, bent first. She felt a tug of a hidden puppeteer and folded her knees. Kylo Ren resisted longer, forcing his body to oppose. Much to his chagrin, his will meant nothing in comparison to the crushing tension ordering him to bow. He did.

They both prostrated themselves before Supreme Leader Snoke. He wasn't the only one controlling the situation. Snoke had them locked in a force field, like undisciplined children. But Rey felt something else. Luke Skywalker was standing on the opposite side of the hall, equally concentrated on stopping them from killing each other.

It was a sight to behold.

Both - master of light and darkness were pushing the Force against each other. Snoke's hand was poised and steady, while Luke's throbbed in the air.

"Your padawan didn't kill mine, after all." Snoke spoke first.

"It wasn't for the lack of tying," Rey murmured, surprised her lips worked. Kneeling opposite her nemesis, unable to move and defend herself alarmed her. Ren, on the other hand, seemed to have found comfortable spot mere inches from her face. The degradation riled her up more than the fact she was beaten.

"Luke Skywalker," Snoke's voice thundered. "Finally, I meet you in person. You are the last of your lineage I haven't had the chance to meet. Ironic, isn't it? Me, who is your creator – seeing you makes me very proud to demolish my creation."

Both padawans were listening with held breath. Ren's eyes flickered on the blood trailing down Rey's arm. She proudly raised her chin despite the profound pain.

"Do you have no words to speak, Jedi?" Snoke taunted.

"I know what you did, Sith." Luke spoke for the first time. "I know you seduced him and turned him against his family."

Rey saw a change in Kylo Ren's eyes upon hearing the word 'Sith'. Neither of the Masters appeared to get tired of pushing the Force against each other and their students. Their conversation flew casually, as if they just reminisced of old times.

"Oh, yes. I was a Sith Lord, once, wasn't I? It was so long ago, not even I can remember. But then – I must have been, because only the Sith stab their masters in the back."

"Or burn them in their sleep," Luke added ominously. "I'm a son of my mother and father, not your creation. I know everything about you, Plagueis."

"That name doesn't sit well with me. We are the last of our kind, you and I. How will the legacy of Sith and Jedi end?" Snoke asked.

Luke's eyes connected with Rey's for the first time since he appeared. They were asking for forgiveness and at the same time, strengthening her resolve.

"You are all my creations, each and everyone in this hall." Snoke put his hand down leisurely. Kylo and Rey tried to move at the same time, without success. How did he manage to hold them without even trying? Ren deepened his stare into her eyes – as if communicating how powerful Snoke really was.

Snoke sauntered towards the tree in the middle. He caressed one of its smooth branches. "The Force no longer flows through me. _I am_ the Force – life and death bow down to my will. I created Anakin Skywalker, from whom you all rose. Well, all but you – Reyata."

He turned to her. He was feasting his eyes on her, helplessly cowering before him.

"You were a fluke in the pattern, an anatomically correct error of my former padawan. I never understood why he would breed; and even if he did, he should have killed his offspring before he would take his place."

Luke closed his eyes. He regretted causing her so much pain. He could have prevented all of this, if only he had taken her in as a child and trained her with Ben. Rey sensed his regret, his self-loathing.

"Don't listen to him – his words are but a poison. He's a wound in the Force, not its master. "Luke pleaded. An intense blast shook the walls of the temple. "We have reinforcements on our side, Snoke. With or without us, this temple will fall."

"The pathetic Resistance is nothing but a gnat at my ear. Crush this temple – it no longer has any value to me. I found what I need." He bore his eyes into Kylo Ren's back. Luke grabbed his lightsaber. "I won't let you harm my family again."

Snoke summoned a staff which burst lasers from both ends. "So be it – the last Jedi walks to his death."

They started fighting.

Their collision put Kylo Ren's and Rey's fight to shame. They fought too fast and too furiously to comprehend where the advantage lied.

Rey understood even less than before. She returned Ren's stare – surprisingly, he nodded towards the tree. She felt the power of the Force surging through it, like a life-giving sap. She tried to clear her mind and tap into it – without success. Rey bit her lip; searing pain in her arm burnt to the bone. She felt too tired, too overwhelmed to harness the energy.

Kylo sized her up. Her lips paled and cracked. Her usually smooth, olive skin was white as paper; so translucent he could trace the map of blue veins under it. Her breaths became deeper, despite their intensity, she couldn't catch her breath. Once in a while, when she thought he watched the fight rather than her, she blinked away tears.

Ren did something he had never done willingly. He tried to alleviate the pain of another human being.

While Rey struggled, he felt lucid for the first time since he killed Han Solo. Slowly, in one fluid motion, he took some of her pain. The Force started singing their melody, the one they first heard by the waterfall. Long, high-pitched tones soothed them both. They truly were a wondrous organism. She would kill him and he would conquer her. They both tried and failed, as if none truly meant it.

The temple quaked again, this time stone disjointed from the walls.

"Why are you helping me?" Rey whispered, when another wave of relief washed her wound.

"I'm not doing it for you." He replied harshly. "Look at us."

Kylo understood a fundamental fact. No matter who he was, and how gifted in the ways of the Force; when it came to Snoke's endgame; they both ended up on their knees. Even _he_ had to kneel alongside his enemy. If he was to become the most powerful Sith Lord, he needed to dispose of Snoke. Supreme Leader would never see him more than just a trainee ready to do his bidding.

"You finally see it, don't you. Your father – he was right. Snoke is using you for your power," Rey repeated Han's final words to his son.

"Don't ever talk about my father," Ren's eyes glinted menacingly.

"Monster doesn't want to serve another monster. What a surprise." She said coldly.

"I don't want to serve _anyone_ , ever." Ren spoke the truth.

Despite his growing feelings to her, he wouldn't let them cloud his judgment. She defeated him twice and she would do it again. He mustn't underestimate her. He was helping her now because it was in his best interest to do so. Nothing more, he lied to himself, silencing his childish affections.

Rey felt this turmoil, she relived it daily herself. She never felt loved by anyone. Often on Jakku, she imagined how it would feel to actually love someone, unconditionally. This was the farthest feeling from it. And yet – she reacted towards his slightest touch. She read his mind and felt his emotions as if they were her own. She rarely ate a meal with another human being, but now, she never felt alone. Not all their visions were bad. Not all his words infuriated her. She fought him to the death moments ago, and yet she never felt more relieved when she didn't have to kill him. She wanted more from him than just an understanding. If this was love, it was selfish kind of emotion; corrosive and agonizing.

Rey forgot he sensed her feelings.

What Kylo Ren felt emanating from this girl, this scavenger turned Jedi, was pure and deliberate affection. He marveled at the distinction of her harsh words and her tender feelings. Those didn't lie. Was this how she truly felt about him? He saw himself through her eyes. For the first time, a monster wasn't gazing back at him. He wanted to reach her while on his knees; because that too was an act of humility. He willed his limbs to move. He fought Snoke's Force lock for one purpose, and it wasn't to harm her. A jolt surged through his muscles, then another, till he circled his wrists.

"What are you doi-?"

Rey's question died before spoken fully. Ren gently pulled her closer and kissed her parted lips. His lips tenderly caressed Rey's; they felt soft and plump, inviting him to take more. Slowly, she succumbed to the completeness of his warmth.

He deepened his kiss, surprised that she didn't push him away. His tongue caressed the soft corners inside her mouth. She could sense his pummeling heart through their joined chests. He needed to touch her more. He took her face in his palms, brushing her pale cheeks with his thumb. Rey basked in that calloused touch; in his taste and smell. She tilted her head and skimmed the surface of his scar. Something awoke in her then, when she thirsted for that desecrated piece of skin.

His touch shielded her from the whole world. She felt his masculine fragrance mingled with the smell of blossoms. Energy of the tree infused them both. When they kissed, they opened themselves up completely to the Force; it surrounded them and bound them together as one. Rey wrapped her arms around his body, surprised she could envelop his broad torso. Without outer robes, she felt skin of his arms equally mystifying as the texture of his lips. She forgot the need to breathe.

He softly let her go; gazing at her face. She kept her eyes closed for a moment after their kiss ended. When she opened them, he immediately missed their connection. He felt the power of the dark side, but he never physically missed it. Now, he longed for one more touch, one more caress… but even if she was to offer more, he wouldn't be able to take it now.

Snoke and Luke Skywalker remained oblivious to this awakening. The whole exchange happened in a flicker of a moment; which only the lovers found infinite. Their masters were fighting ferociously; the Resistance was hammering the temple down; and Kylo and Rey were in the middle of it all. She forgot to wonder how she could move again.

"Do you regret it?" He asked calmly.

"No," she said.

One syllable lifted weight from his chest.

"Now, you know." Ren whispered. "I will help you escape."

"I'm not asking you to. You're not obliged to help me." Rey's eyes darkened. She didn't realize it wasn't her pride speaking. She knew what Snoke might do to him if he helped her.

Ren answered. "We are never going to be more than this, so don't waste the opportunity to use my help."

"More than this? What is more than an enemy you sacrifice your life for?" Rey asked. "It's easy to risk your life for someone you love. What about someone you hate, but would still die for?"

He understood her completely. What Kylo wanted to kill was a principle, not the girl herself. He was trained to murder the Jedi, to seize the Force from unworthy hands. She had it – so what? There was no turning back for them. They were linked together for eternity; lovers born of hate and passion.

"We share a Force bond." Ren put to words what he had long suspected. "That's why we share visions, feel and think like the other, if we want. I can give you strength and take your pain, and much more. You can do the same for me," he added in a small voice. He honestly doubted she ever would. He felt embarrassed how much he wished she would, one day.

"On my go, run away – run and don't look back. Forget Luke Skywalker, he's strong enough to realize what is happening and escape."

"Who am I?" Rey blurted out in the worst time possible. If she didn't ask, she would have regretted it forever. "Please, I know you made better sense of all my visions and Snoke's words than I did."

Ren hesitated. She grabbed his hand, ready to plead for answers. He intertwined his fingers with hers. She didn't have to do it; he felt her panic and confusion. "You're of Sith lineage, from Emperor's bloodline. I don't know who your parents are or how you ended up on Jakku. Now, run!" he gave her hand one last squeeze, before he veiled the whole hall in Force lightning.

He directed electric currents on both dueling masters. Rey felt the force-lock lifted. She saw Snoke immediately charging at Ren, while Luke Skywalker screamed in agony. Then, tears welled in her eyes and she saw nothing. Wiping them off, she ran away from the temple that crumbled and shook the entire planet.

.

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 **A/N OK I slept for like three hours, but I finished this one early. I just can't stop writing it. This is a major shift in the story. Thank you for reading and your comments, it definitely keeps me going 3**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Rey wished she could sleep another day, just one more to rest and forget. The last few days passed in a blur. The Resistance had no time to recover, to regroup – and in Rey's case, to mourn. She lost something valuable in that temple – she became vulnerable.

She never had to worry about anyone else before she let him in. Of course, she bore some sentiments towards Reshe; an old woman from Jakku. She was a scavenger, just like Rey; old and withered, burned by sun and years of hard labor. This was different. She didn't find light; she couldn't put her feeling into the verses of poetry. She just drowned, while wondering how it could happen in the ocean. Ocean preyed on the weak, and she felt unsure of herself and her feelings.

When she ran away from the temple, she stepped in a blazing inferno. The Resistance's reinforcements were battling hundreds of TIE fighters and stormtroopers. Pyres and smoke covered the air where the Moon shone before; now eclipsed by two massive Star Destroyers. The First Order rushed to Snoke's aid, just like General Organa's troops rallied to defend their own.

Rey counted Luke Skywalker's arrival in heartbeats. She was glued to the spot, looking out for him to come out. When he finally did, clutching his side; she rushed to support him. Eventually, they got out. Her heart was beating even faster aboard Millenium Falcon, as if her body produced adrenalin just to keep her awake. Someone dressed her wound. Others tried to feed her, but she couldn't recall the taste of the meal. When she finally crashed, she slept for days; unwilling to get up. She couldn't face her Master; the shame and pain overpowered her.

She didn't dream.

If she allowed herself to, she would have shared her dreams with Ren. It was easier to hide behind the bars of cowardice, than to know what was happening to him. He would be punished for his deed, the question remained how. So, she closed off to the world of dreams as well as reality. Sometimes, she heard voices in her cabin. Finn held her hand, whispering sweet silly things into his friend's ear.

Jedi's sleep could last a hundred years; wrapped up in the reveries of the Force; gaining sustenance from it. So, she succumbed to slumber. In waking world, she missed an intrinsic part of herself. In sleep, she became nothing. Then, she learned the hard way that even nothing can feel pain and misery.

"Rey, wake up. You can't escape it." She heard a vague echo of Luke's voice. No, she wouldn't listen to him.

Luke Skywalker had been holding a silent vigil besides his padawan's bed. He wasn't concerned when she slept for three days. On fifth, he paid attention. His own mother didn't die from childbirth. She lost her will to live. The same thing could happen to Rey; if she gave in to the grief. She would go peacefully, immersed into the Force without even realizing it; like quite a few Jedi of old.

"How is she?" Leia asked. Crow's feet around her temples were more visible; she aged a decade in few days.

"She's recovering. It will take time, but she'll wake up when she's healed." Luke said.

"Is it true, then? _Ben_ is still alive?" She asked in a choked voice, and didn't use his dark moniker.

"He is."

When Luke got engaged in the battle with Snoke, he didn't miss the connection formed between them. This was but a first step, just a preliminary taste of what they could be together. "Ben helped us, in his own way."

"He regrets it, then?" Leia sighed.

"No. I don't think he will ever come home, Leia. Not in a way you want him to. I think he has just realized that he is human. He craves something else, besides power, something he can't find on the dark side." He looked pointedly at Rey. "That might save him."

"Love isn't always the answer. If it were, I would have saved my son a hundred times."

"He didn't forget how to love. In the end, he speared his own father while mourning him in loving memory."

Rey's eyes fluttered as her head turned on the soft pillow. Luke sighed, holding her hand. She sensed who they were discussing. He could imagine the conflict within her; the guilt for feeling something else than disdain and hatred for the man who inspired it.

"Luke, you can't sit by her side. We need you – the Resistance now is a new government. We have to regroup and strategize where to go next from here."  
After First Order annihilated Hossnian system, the Galaxy was de facto leaderless.

"You know what can happen now – we've been through this after the fall of the Empire. Many individual factions will rise; the Order isn't the only regime of darkness out there. Billions of lives in the Galaxy depend on us."

Luke put Rey's hand gingerly on the bed. "I think we should turn to the Church of the Force. We can't choose other allies – there are none left."

Rey didn't stay alone for more than few hours; there was always someone by her side. Chewie in particular made sure to keep her covered and warm; even if she couldn't feel it. Finn was always talking to her, filling her in on current news. Poe Dameron knew her from the tales of others. She saved his life and that indebted him to her. Her strong will reminded him of his mother's selflessness, the stellar pilot who helped Luke Skywalker to fight the Empire. Even BeeBee rolled around her cabin, occasionally peeking on her still form.

Then, as if just waking from a short nap - Rey opened her eyes.

For the number of visitors she had while asleep, now she found herself surprisingly alone. She didn't have the right notion of time and space – she had no idea who or where they landed the Falcon.

Slowly, she swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed. First few steps, she almost tripped over her feet. Her body felt sore. She drank the whole decanter of cold water someone had left on her table in one long sip. Something felt amiss, something which bothered her before. The pain was gone. She patted her arm – it was completely healed. She was glad, but at the same time, it looked as if the injury never happened. Perhaps him lifting her pain didn't happen either. Her skin was smooth and pink; without a trace of the ugly gash to the bone. Only under right light, a faint scar became visible.

It would be so easy to forget that he had helped her, so right to doubt it. But he did. She was never the one to be in debt. Even as a scavenger, she always paid her dues and detested to be reliant upon the mercy of others. She would rather go hungry than to beg for that extra portion which cost her in the end. She wondered what price Kylo Ren put on this act of mercy.

Rey got dressed in black knee-length pants and simple white tunic, fastened with a belt. She was braiding her hair while walking around the ship to find someone familiar. She furrowed her brows. The shield in the main cabin enshrouded her in green – she recognized that place.

"Takodana?" She asked herself. Yes, they were back on Takodana, hidden in the forest where she first met Kylo Ren. Rey didn't wait any longer. She hooked her lightsaber and went exploring. She was walking in the eerily silent forest towards Maz Kanata's palace. No more but a ruin, its crumbled towers and rubble stood out amidst the verdant trees.

"Welcome back, child" Maz greeted shocked Rey.

"Where is everyone?"

"In the base. You've been asleep for a long time," Maz motioned Rey to follow her. "The resistance ins now split into small factions. You and few others are stationed here, with this old lady to help you as much as she can."

"The base? " Rey communicated succinctly, as if she had yet to find a way of human language.

"It's underground, below the forest. The entrance leads from the basement of my palace. You've been there before, if you recall."

Rey followed Maz Kanata's steps until they entered the familiar basement. Maz waved her hand and a force hatch opened in the ground. They proceeded down the stairs, until they faced a long, narrow corridor.

"Follow me, "Maz said and Rey walked behind. Occasional drops of water sliding down the walls echoed in the distance. Musty odor of the corridor hit Rey's nostrils; it was a mixture of moldy soil and decayed leaves.

Rey fell behind. Maz walked back a few steps. She took hold of Rey's hand.

"I know what troubles you. You've seen ghosts here. This place is full of them – I had seen a fair share of them myself."

Rey kneeled down, to better face Maz. She gulped, thinking about whom she faced the last time she was on her knees like this. "I know what is right. I'm not lost to the dark side, even if Luke gave up on me."

"Is that what you're afraid of?" Maz unscrewed her enormous glasses. Beady eyes looked gingerly at Rey. "No, my child. Luke Skywalker is not here because of the Resistance – he was called elsewhere. He knows you didn't go against him. Even I, untrained in the Force, can feel it. You faced you test, but you didn't fail."

"Why does it feel like I did?" Rey asked.

"Showing compassion to your enemy isn't falling to the dark side."

"I felt so angry…so…" Rey was at loss for words. Every feeling in Ren's presence became amplified. Whether it was hate, compassion or something deeper she had harbored for him – when she faced him, it all intensified.

"Remember this, when you doubt yourself the next time: Anyone burdened by the fear of falling to the dark side is farthest thing from it. Your consciousness, your remorse and self-doubt lead you the right way. I blame Luke," Maz scrunched her wrinkled nose. "I told him long ago that he can't teach the new Jedi by the code of old. Don't feel bad because you are not infallible."

"Someone once told me I'm not a Jedi, anyway…" Rey smiled.

"No – you're a Force user. You are what was once called Gray Jedi; channeling all passions in the force, not just those deemed worthy by the Jedi council. Come now, meet your friends."

Rey felt so grateful for Maz at that very moment. As she hugged the wise woman, she poured all her gratitude into the embrace. Enormous weight dropped off her chest. She felt the rays of hope renewing her. She was ready to fight and face anything that would come into her path. When they crossed several more turns in the corridor, voices filled Rey with anticipation.

They entered a dimly lit operation centre. Its walls were lined with machines and computers, in the center stood a hologram table. Just as she was beginning to seek them, Finn and Poe rushed to greet her first.

"It seems like one of us is always waiting for the other one to wake up," Finn chuckled, holding her tight.

"Let's hope it's not going to be my turn next," Poe hugged her as well.

"No, no, no, no n-" Rey laughed as Chewie bolted from the door and caught her in a bone crushing hug. "I'm glad to see you too, Chewie." Rey burrowed her face in his fur. "I'm glad to see all of you. Thank you," She looked somberly into their eyes," for being by my side.

Hologram lit in the middle of the table. A cloaked figure spoke to them.

"Greetings _Carrion_ faction, we have settled in the region Zero Zero Six and successfully report that our base is now fully operational. We still suffer the pilot shortage, therefore we can't act on this intel ourselves. We received reports that Slaver's Belt has lost significant number of workers, most likely as a result of kidnappings by the First Order. Our contacts documented they are indeed being led to new colonies, mainly in the expansion regions. We advise to carry out a preliminary surveillance mission to confirm or deny the suspicions. Thank you and good luck." The transmission ended.

Rey's life on Jakku wasn't much further from the slavery. Without her Master and any clear order what to do, she might be useful this way. She immediately raised her eyebrows in Poe's direction.

"Well, "he smirked. "Who's up for a trip to the expansion regions?" Poe shuffled through several different holograms, when he found the one he was looking for. "There," he magnified one section. "Even if we don't have the precise location, the intel in the past was always right. They have scoured Esstran and Sertar regions; without much success. Now, before the whole ordeal with the Starkiller Base, we planned to investigate planets further North."

"You mean the Sith sector?" Rey asked. "I thought those planets are long abandoned, even before the era of New republic."

"Wouldn't be the first time something festered hidden on one of the Sith planets. "

"This'll be tricky," Finn scratched his chin." If the Order base is there, we can't just walk blindly into another mission. We have to scour – only scour, and then report back. One single ship, one droid and the three of us."

Rey and Poe nodded in unison. They picked older Correlian barge, worn enough to pass for a smuggler ship. Once Poe set up the coordinates for hyperdrive, the three young rebels sat around the communication table. They reminded her of three siblings sneaking out to the Niima outpost cantina despite their parents' curfew.

Rey used to imagine having brothers; in fact, she imagined having anyone who would care for her well being. It didn't matter if it was a stray cat, or a Jawa with a spear which used to terrify her. She longed for connection with anyone but the scoundrels and Plutt.

Their journey passed in silent understanding. Finn was changing the power cell in his deconstructed blaster; the weapon which he felt most sure wielding. Poe paced around the three dimensional model of the Sith sector, zooming and calculating distances and atmospheric pressure. Rey's back leaned against the wall. She drew her knees up to her chin and rested her head. She attempted to clear her mind and anticipate her encounter with Kylo Ren. There was no _if_ – only _when_ ; regarding their future meeting.

They jumped out of hyperdrive. Rey immediately felt a surge of excitement course through her body.

Poe tapped the desk. "All right, this is it. Now, listen carefully. I've calculated the transmission frequency of Korriban. We have to land behind a specific checkpoint – there are dozens here. The First Order monitors not only the traffic of the ships, but also the transmissions."

"In other words, once we land, we're deaf and blind?" Finn asked.

"Yes. We have to turn off the trackers and coms – anything tying us to our ship or the droid. We wouldn't be able to land at all here, but lucky for us, planetary poles are blind spots. We can land there, and trek south, towards the tombs. It's probable they work there. "

"No," Rey said pensively."We have to split and scout different locations. The slaves won't be anywhere near the tombs." She was certain, knowing Ren and his reverence for ancient relics. He wouldn't have allowed slave barracks desecrate hallowed Sith graves. Naturally, she didn't tell them this.

Finn approached her with wide eyes. "Is it the Force? Can you feel where they are?"

"Uhmm...yeah – Yes!" Rey nodded."I can sense their presence. I will go south towards the equator, Poe West and you head East. We can set a six hour window, and then we'll head back to the ship."

They agreed on the plan which depended on their luck to sneak unnoticed on the Sith ground. Rey mounted one of their airspeeders. It looked smaller and simpler than the pod she owned as a scavenger. She flew for a good while, floating few feet above the ground. Hot wind kept slashing her face, so she lifted her cape and fastened it around her neck and nose. Korriban should remind her of Jakku, but it didn't. Despite the sand and orange clay, the ground felt dense. Terracotta hue didn't end where an eye could see, only segued into coral and dark red. It colored razor sharp mountain valleys, dried up river beds, and giant boulders which served her as intuitive milestones on the road.

Rey dismounted her speeder after hours, when the habitat around her seemed more processed, more touched by human hand. If people built here, perhaps it had to do with slaves. She lowered her machine on the ground behind a giant boulder, so it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb in this empty landscape. Ubiquitous sepia tones irritated her eyes. She drank like a thirsty raider stranded on an island in the middle of the sea. She upturned the flask and let the last few drops sizzle on the rock hard dirt.

"Interesting," she crouched and scooped a handful of loose sand. The clay was trampled by thousands of feet walking it every day. It formed a dirt road where sole imprints remained visible after months.

"Does it never rain here?" Rey wiped her palms on the back of her pants and pulled out a hand satellite. She swiveled three hundred and sixty degrees around while gazing into binoculars. They measured the distance and ground density, atmospheric pressure as well as any source of water in the radius. Rey took few more spins, when she put the binoculars down.

They fell from her hands and shattered.

Ugly imperial droid was hovering mere inches from her face. It crept on her in absolute silence. It must have been watching her for some time, but she was too preoccupied to notice. Its rhombus head and four long tentacles evoked the image of a mechanical sea creature; except this one wasn't designed to stun, but to spy. Its tentacle rattled as is scanned Rey with a single red eye in the middle.

Rey remained calm in spite of intense urge to move, to run, to do something other than stand like a stone column. Inch by inch, her left hand was reaching for the blaster stashed in the back of her belt. The probe sensed her movement and plunged its head further into her face. The red beeping eye was blinding her, the death rattle raised goosebumps on her forearms. Rey's mouth got dry, so dry it felt like she had swallowed sandpaper.

Not a minute later, she heard engines roaring in the distance. Whoever was coming would make this droid's presence feel like a pesky pet. Rey weighed her options - she had a grand total of two. The moment small aerial shuttle landed next to her, she chose the second one.

While the hydraulic door was unsealing, she buried her weapons and satellite into a hastily dug sand hole. She hurriedly checked the pod still hidden behind the rock where she left it. Then, she tore her arm wraps with her teeth, huffing and spitting the dust which got glued onto her dry mouth. As a final touch, she ripped her tunic at the hem, giving it a worn out appearance.

"What is this?" Three stormtroopers with pointed blasters encircled her. "A runaway slave," said one.

Rey didn't as much as breath out loud. Perhaps her lean body and destitute appearance she so quickly conjured fooled them.

"How did you escape the garrison, slave?" Stormtrooper's robotic voice croaked from his helmet.

She lowered her eyes in an obedient manner, as a slave would when questioned by their betters.

"Take her. We're heading back."

They manhandled her all the way to the shuttle and once there, they put the magnetic field handcuffs on her wrists. Rey leaned against the metal wall and hoped her plan would work. It had to, otherwise she just served one of the two remaining Jedi in the Galaxy to the First Order on a silver platter.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

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 **A/N Two chapter update today, because I'm not evil and I won't let you suffer through another cliffie.**

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Kylo Ren was tormented by fire and ice.

Locked in the cryogenic chamber, he suffered. His body didn't belong to him anymore. Rejecting the torrents of pain, he fell in and out of consciousness. He tried to repress it; mentally trick his neurons to quieten. Yet, like a mortal man can't cheat death, his mind couldn't cheat pain.

When stormtroopers carried his body back to Star Destroyer, Hux didn't see the reason why. Ren heard him talking about uselessness of storing corpses. Indeed, he felt more dead than alive, until healers submerged him to the cryo gel. When Ren felt his first mighty heartbeat, he knew he would make it. The Force lightning nearly killed him – he pondered in the ice. Back at the temple, he didn't attempt a rescue; he attempted suicide. Now, with clear mind, he cursed his foolish deed to go against Supreme Leader. _She_ made him.

"No, no one forced you. You offered," his mind reflected. Days passed in agony that diminished only a little. Kylo wandered the meadow by the waterfall in vain. He longed to escape his hurting body into the sweet release of their visions.

Rey didn't come.

She was lost to him like everything else that was good and pure. She learnt how to lock him out, how to deflect his subtle yearnings.

"Nevermind, "he sighed. When he couldn't see her, he was thinking about that moment when he threw everything away – that kiss. Mere image of it sustained him. How deep must his feeling go when a vision, a faded memory, alleviated his pain? After a while, the burning of ice changed into burning of fire. They took him from cryo chamber into regular healing ward.

Ren counted days and nights only by the space odyssey passing his window. Star Destroyer must have been stationed somewhere near a dense star system. They orbited one sun every thirty two hours and three satellites every four days. On good days, he managed to lean to the window and breathe on the glass, as if in disbelief he still drew breath. Once, he glanced on his own reflection. How could one body contain so much pain? His face was no different, smooth and pale. The scar didn't bother him anymore.

One night, he woke up to the sound of an irritating voice. "I admit, I was skeptical about his recovery. He sustained serious internal injuries and burns." General Hux was talking to his healer. Ren didn't cling to any illusions. Hux checked on the title of subordinate, not the man himself.

"How peculiar, that each new patient that had been admitted here died within a day. As if something sucked the life out of them. Yet _he_ recovered."

Ren's gaze circled empty medical ward and rested on the dead plants in the corner. He did what he had to do to survive. Slowly, innocuously, he manipulated the Force, diverting life itself from others. He wouldn't have healed otherwise. Yes, he would live; not only that - he would triumph. He had nothing to lose now.

The neon lights flickered on and off. Chill crawled down Ren's spine, his breath condensed in the air. He realized he slowly lost his consciousness and drifted into a Force vision.

"No," he whispered panicked, feeling the walls closing around him. Supreme Leader Snoke walked in. His leathery face remained impenetrable to Kylo's scrutiny. Heavy dark robes swept the floor with each step Snoke took.

"You are wondering how come I didn't kill you for what you've done." Snoke's voice sounded like nails on the chalkboard. Everything about the man repulsed the life itself.

"You didn't kill me because you still need me," Ren propelled himself on his elbows.

"I don't need you, but I could still _use_ you." Gone were the days of empty flattery, when Snoke tempted young Ben Solo. They met now as equals, without any pretense. "You always knew that I don't care for the technological terror First Order spreads across the Galaxy. It's not detrimental to my cause, but that is not my goal."

Ren listened, fascinated. "What then, Master?"

"I want to make my will one with the Force. What good is the weapon of mass destruction, if those who survive it have the will to oppose you? I want to control that will, to bend it to my own. The Sith are extinct. You've already purged the Jedi, my apprentice – that itself helped to tip the Force our way."

"Is that why you didn't kill the girl?"

"I have my own plans for her. We don't need Luke Skywalker – he is never going to abandon the old ideals he so desperately values. I told you before; I want her to be strong in the Force, and then take her and subject her to my will. Skywalker trained her expertly, but he couldn't contain her passions. That suits us well."

Snoke leaned closer, widening his eyes, probing Ren's mind.

"I know what you felt on Rakata; how could I not? Lure her towards us, make her trust you by exploiting her gullible feelings. But don't lose focus of your true goal. I leave our affairs to you. I need to leave and become one with the dark side for now. "Snoke frowned, joining his palms together. "Heal, Ren – I can see you have learned a thing or two in the temple," he said, looking at the withered plants on the table on his way out.

Few more weeks passed, until he stood in his chambers, looking at Vader's helmet. He realized he had already eclipsed the ambitions of his grandfather. Vader fell to gain his power – Kylo Ren would rise to it. When Vader fell, he became more machine than a man. Ren should have been burned and ravaged beyond repair; yet he manipulated the Force to near complete recovery. The mask didn't hold a status of holy artifact anymore. He gazed at it when he wanted to remind himself what more lies ahead.

He was patiently waiting for his orders; roaming the Star Destroyer like a ghost. Hux glanced at him from time to time, as if he knew something Ren didn't. He always massaged his throat on instinct, when he passed Ren. Ironically, more people didn't dare look him in the eyes now, when he no longer wore his old mask of knight.

He didn't wear his humanity on the sleeve, but at the same time, he didn't feel compelled to hide it. Human feelings caused more pain than any monster in mask. He could still take whatever he wanted, and feel the fire burning towards her. Resurrected from near death, he inspired more respect among the troops than any guise before.

"We have set for a new course," he walked in to the main bridge of Star Destroyer, as he felt the ship keel and adjust to hyperdrive.

"Yes. We're flying back to Korriban, to inspect the progress with the slaves." Hux said, taking a tentative step away from Ren.

Kylo's eyes narrowed. "What is it that you're hiding from me, General?" He didn't want to straight out probe his mind – but he would, if necessary.

"I don't know what you mean." Hux kept looking straight ahead.

"No, I'm sure you don't. Is it necessary for me to accompany you? You know I don't care for slave politics," Ren said. He found the practice barbaric, but mostly, unworthy of his time. He fought the most powerful force users in the galaxy. Why would he waste time on some insignificant slaves?

"Did Supreme Leader order it?" Ren asked.

"Supreme Le-… What?" Hux crossed his arms on his chest. He looked at Ren, as if he couldn't believe he would ask that. "You know perfectly well he didn't."

When they landed on Korriban, Ren felt the change in the air. The planet was the same, but different than he remembered. He walked the orange dusty trail to the First Order garrison in silence. Hux was skulking behind him. Ren turned a few times, merely to watch the General squirm and pale. There was something odd going on with him, ever since the battle on Rakata.

Slave quarter was vastly different from the regal tombs and temples of Korriban. The garrison consisted of barracks for the miners who drilled planet's core for precious metals; few warehouses where they slept, and a main station for stormtroopers. The greatest luxury here was clean water and shade; craved by all in order to escape the scorching sun.

Ren entered the space bazaar of many races and life forms, raging form toddlers to old and dispensable. These people were useful only to Hux and his goals; he had no connection to any of it. While he battled Jedi with his knights, Hux ran a smooth operation to supply the Order with ships and weapons.

"Why are we here, general?" Ren asked.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Hux loosened his collar, staring at Ren with disdain typical for his neurotic features.

Ren stepped closer. "No. I suggest you don't waste anymore of my time, Hux."

"You have to conduct the inspection of the new slaves yourself. We don't have other means to determine if they are force sensitive or not. You're the only one that can sense it." Hux said, as if explaining rainbow to a child.

"You have never bothered me with this before. Why?"

"Because…well," Hux seemed at loss for words. "We broadcast the selection to Supreme Leader in the past and he could always tell. Once, those Knights of yours surveyed them, but they had to do it personally. But now it's out of the question, since they're dead. So, you have to do it, unless you want to have some forgotten force user growing up in their midst and a revolt in the future. "

Ren sighed. He had to do it, whether he liked the task or not. It wouldn't be the first time a slave rose through the Force and ruled the Galaxy – Anakin Skywalker was a prime example. He couldn't afford to neglect these things now, when they were so close to their goal. Snoke made it perfectly clear to Kylo that he didn't care for the politics of the Order anymore.

Hux slithered closer to Ren and said through gritted teeth. "We need them for work later. Try not to torture them too much."

Kylo sat on the massive chair inside one of the warehouses and joined the tips of his fingers. To find out a hidden mole in the nest, he had to mind probe all individually. He didn't particularly enjoy the task. It was mundane and uncomfortable experience – except when he mind probed _her_. That was a challenge. Gust of arid air flew in through the open hangar door; the sand and glare and sizzling heat bothered him now, when he was sitting and doing nothing. He couldn't imagine working day and night under these conditions.

The line he saw startled him.

Thousands of raggedy people were standing to meet him; obedient and docile, as if they succumbed to their fate. In the end, to live under the First Order was still a better alternative than to die free.

Ren mutely motioned to the first one – a young man – to come closer. One by one, he mind probed them all. In their kneeling forms, he saw hundreds of tales, villages and families. Each was unique, but in the end – they blurred into one muddy pool of sentimental drivel. Women cried their eyes out at the sight of children they had to leave behind. He felt men's rage when seeing their homes destroyed and planets subdued.

"Pathetic," Ren sighed after hours of this.

He wondered if Hux didn't put him up to this to punish him. Not one of these lowlifes could ever possess the Force – or so he thought, until a bald, thin man approached him.

"You…" Ren whispered, gesturing to stormtroopers to hold the man still. He knelt, folding his grey robes and tired bones. "Who are you?" Ren asked the man, sensing the connection to the Force none other had possessed.

"My name is Cronal." His translucent skin wrinkled with every word he spoke. His sunken eyes followed Ren's behind the mask. "I think you can see for yourself, Sith."

"Yes, I can." Ren pushed further into his mind. He witnessed other robed bald men bowing to the statues; then he saw a vision he had once shared with Rey. Emperor Palpatine and his guards greeted this man as an esteemed guest.

"I am what was once called the Prophet of the Dark Side. Take a look," he grinned," see whom I served."

Ren examined his memories and saw the tremor in the darkness. "How did a prophet of the dark side become a slave?" he asked.

Man's thin lips smacked when he talked. "I fell. We all fall; us who worship the dark side."

"Not all, old man."

"Oh, yes. You will fall too. Not all fall deeper into the chasm. Some find their undoing in the light. I can see yours," Cronal bared his crooked teeth. "The Prophets were famous clairvoyants; even the emperor used our gifts many times during the height of his power. I can see your future, Lord of the Sith."

"I'm not a Sith and I want you to stop talking." Ren shot up from his chair. "This one. Take him," he pointed at the kneeling man, who started hollering and kicking the guards.

"I can see you fall!" He shouted in last attempt to get Ren's attention. "I can see your fall and it is right behind me!" He screeched one last time, before Phasma herself escorted him out. The queue began muttering louder and louder until a single blaster shot from outside silenced them all. Ren didn't have to say a single word to regain his menacing veneer; the slaves all looked down once they heard the shot. Ren fought hard to compose himself, grateful for the benefit of his mask at that moment.

"Next," He said loudly.

When a woman knelt in front of him, he didn't look at her twice. He stretched his hand and began sweeping through her mind. He tilted his head, blinded by the vision he never thought he'd see again. The waterfall roared and the Moons were shinning on the two star struck lovers. She smiled at him and then gently pushed him out of her mind.

His unsteady hand reached to her and pulled the hood of her tunic down.

"I haven't come here to fight," Rey whispered to him and put both hands in the air.

"You've come to die, then," both Kylo Ren and Rey turned to see Hux with the squadron of stormtroopers by his side.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Are you real?" Was his first question, followed by "Why are you here?" Their eyes spoke instead of voices which echoed only in their minds. They communicated through their Force bond; silently and yet screaming.

Rey sensed his panic, as if she had thrown a pebble into perfectly still pond. "I've come to free the slaves," she said candidly. He looked above her head, quietly relishing in the irony of their situation.

"You…have come to free…" He couldn't articulate coherent thoughts when it came to all that had happened between them. She raised her eyes once again, forcing him to meet them. He didn't want to look at her and reveal his weakness. When Hux made his grand entrance, it served him both as a disguise and an excuse to distance himself from her.

Rey felt all of this and more just by staring into that void which was his mask. She couldn't imagine actually finding his eyes and caressing his skin again.

"She couldn't have come alone, there will be others. They all travel in packs, like vultures. Find them," Hux ordered to Phasma. "You – come with me." He grabbed Rey's shoulder. Ren clenched his hands into fists without ever planning on doing so. His instincts, when it came to her, were deadly.

Rey didn't protest.

She rose from her knees and let her hands be bound in the magnetic field. Ren didn't comprehend anything – why didn't she fight? Why did she come here in the first place? Hux's troops led her back to the Star Destroyer through the desert landscape of Korriban like a dog on a leash; and she obeyed.

Then, she turned to look at Kylo, following them like a phantom. He smiled to himself – no, she _chose_ to obey. There was something more than this to her meek demeanor. Suddenly, their ways parted. Ren took a left turn to the headquarters, while troopers led Rey to the shuttle boarding the Star Destroyer. She couldn't panic, not now. She longed for his presence, but she knew her mission depended on her wits.

The shuttle revved and ascended to the stars and Hux kept her arm locked in his. She smelled something sterile from his uniform, a starchy odor of an anxious bureaucrat. When the Destroyer swallowed their shuttle and the trap door fell, Rey immediately counted steps in her mind. Hux took her to an interrogation chamber, no different from the one where Ren mind probed her in the past.

"Sit down," He ordered.

Rey slouched onto metal chair with low railings. He sat opposite her with his hands resting on his thighs. Rey noticed his back was unnaturally straight. He sat rigid like a shut down droid.

He sized her up and down several times. "You're taller than I expected," he murmured arrogantly. She felt strange, like goods behind the display window waiting for the customer's approval. "Nevermind that. I know who you are."

"Good. I know who _you_ are, General. You won't find any other resistance members. I came alone."

He waved his hand lazily. "I know you haven't, but I'm not worried about the rebel scum you traveled with. Let them distract Ren while we talk."

His pale blue eyes glistened. He walked to a chrome cabinet and pulled out triangular red holocron. Hux placed it in the middle of the hologram table and returned back to his seat.

"I would have killed you on the spot before, hadn't it been for this triangle full of wonders," he pointed at the pyramid. "I'm glad you came in person. I was worried you wouldn't when we planted that transmission."

Beads of sweat covered Rey's forehead.

"Yes, while your precious Resistance fought on Rakata, I had some nifty droids tap into your frequencies and track it back with your ships. Now, don't look so impressed – it was nothing, really. "He smirked when red flames crept up Rey's cheek.

"So, this was all a trap. You wanted me here – why?" She decided to play a straight game. He looked like a man who valued his time more than anything. Maybe if she didn't waste it, she might gain something from him.

He narrowed his brows, pulling up his chair closer to her."I wasn't sure at first. In fact, I wasn't sure for a long time after I first read your files. Ren's little obsession with you opened my eyes. If he hadn't been mulling over your holocron every night like a lost dog, I wouldn't have looked at you twice."

Rey averted her face as far as possible, but he still didn't disappear from her visual field. She felt sick just looking at him. His sideburns were ruler-trimmed with strict precision. His eyes scanned her clinically, without real interest to see the person behind the shackles.

"As it turned out, there was something to Ren's reverence of old relics. I dug this one out of disconnected imperial archives," he brushed the holocron.

"When I found out who you are, I quite understood him. You inspire admiration, coming from the royal line. You – emperor's granddaughter, should now take your rightful place in the First Order." He said in a voice higher than before.

Rey couldn't believe her ears. How peculiar were the ways of the Fate. She sought the answers about her parents and lineage for more than a decade – at all the wrong places. This slimy man had them and all she had to do was listen. She interpreted little from Snoke's vague hints in the temple, to her jumbled visions with Kylo Ren. This man was offering her straight answers to one simple question – who was she? Where did she come from?

"Very well, "she took a deep breath. "Show me."

The holocron began to play moving images. She was glad to be a distant observer, an outside set of eyes to truly immerse herself in the truth. She controlled her emotions, unlike inside the visions, where they controlled her.

 _'_ _The year 23 of Imperial age,; born on third Primeday of Seventh Month of Coruscanti lunar cycle. Name?'_ A scribbling figure asked young woman.

 _'_ _Reyata, Reyata Ismaren,'_ male voice added. His face was beyond the frame of the holocron; Rey saw only pair of strong hands resting on woman's shoulders. She blinked back tears; then shook her head in disbelief. She was actually watching her mother and father – and they felt real, more real than in her wildest dreams.

The hologram flickered and changed.

Woman's voice sounded distraught, cracking at the end. ' _I don't know where else to turn. Irek forbade it, he said we can't trust anyone. Lor San Tekka – I plead with you, take care of our daughter if anything happened to us. No one knows about her. If the Emperor found out, we'd all be killed – or worse. He knows Irek had a child, but he suspects it to be a boy. Reyata is in grave danger and…'_ the woman's head spiraled at the sound in the background of her room.

Rey teetered on the edge of her seat, almost touching the image with her nose. The woman was not quite in the centre. Had she only leaned a bit further… As if reading Rey's thoughts, she did just that – and Rey finally gazed upon the face of her mother. She had pointy face and soft brown eyes, rounder and deeper than Rey's. Her tanned skin was smooth and freckled face kind. Rey forgot to wipe her tears; the fabric of her tunic absorbed them one by one.

The hologram changed again, this time, it transmitted in gray and blue imperial colors as all official messages. Rey heard the voice through mechanical contraption – only one in the entire Galaxy produced such a sound. She saw Darth Vader logging into the transmission journal.

 _'_ _We have captured and interrogated several rebels. One of them knew of your son, my Master. It seems he's been tracking members of the Church of the Force; trying to establish contact with them. I haven't found his son – because there is none. You have a granddaughter, instead of a boy heir. We killed a woman during interrogation ho had given up a name – Reyata. Until I receive further orders, I shall remain in pursuit of your son and the rebels.'_

While mesmerized Rey forgot all around her, Hux threw clandestine glances at the girl. Her nails bore deep into the railing; white knuckles almost bled with the strain she was under. Her lower lip trembled in anticipation of something more than a voice; more than a mere image. She would have loved for them to come to life.

The last message was from her mother again. Rey noticed her split lip even in the graininess of the hologram. _'I am leaving Coruscant in a hurry, we can't stay any longer. I am recording this for you, my daughter – asking for your forgiveness. We had failed to protect you,'_ the woman moaned in pain, gripping her torso. _'They said that babies have better chance of surviving carbonite for longer periods of time. I don't know if it's true, but I chose to believe it; otherwise I'd go mad with grief. The Empire won't last forever; we will find you again, Rey. I promise. If you ever see this message, know that-'_

Rey's shoulders jerked back when the image buzzed loudly, and then faded into nothingness.

"I tracked it thanks to an algorithm my analysts wrote based on the mention of your name. Millions of holocrons, and only these three messages contained it." Hux began explaining further, which Rey turned off in her head. The message of her lineage didn't compute with anything she had known about the Empire. Who hid her? Where and when? She was certain she had met Palpatine himself – but how, if her mother swept her off to safety?

"… and then, you have to know that he was in fact a very misunderstood politician…"

"Enough," Rey's deadly whisper silenced Hux at once.

She had dropped the charade. Hux watched her unclasp the magnetic handcuffs with open mouth. She rose from the chair, taking a few steps around the chamber. Fire roaring in her eyes had now turned to ashes. This was supposed to be a rescue mission to free the slaves and it still could be. She had to suppress her emotions in order to succeed. Whether Hux had planted the information to lure the Resistance; the slaves were real.

"My personal tragedy will have to wait, General. Hand over your weapon and if you don't mind, show me to the garrison at once," She said in an even tone. "And don't look so pained, you may attract attention. We don't want that."

Hux's nostrils widened. He realized he had to obey her, no matter how hard he tried to resist. Something at the back of his mind shouted at him, that if he wouldn't, terrible things would come.

"This way," he said mechanically.

While they were walking, he tried to reason with her. "I have called you here because I want to offer you your rightful place. The First Order rose from the Empire, and who better to lead it than you? The blood descendant of the Emperor Palpatine would give new meaning to our cause."

Rey didn't address him. She kept her gaze locked ahead, trying to maintain the Jedi mind trick on him.

"You're Force sensitive," he blurted out."You are exactly what the Order needs to rule the Galaxy. There isn't just me running around the Starkiller Base. There are others, those who didn't believe in Snoke's leadership and had to follow him out of necessity. You," he glanced over his shoulder," you could bring balance and harmony to the Galaxy."

"Move," Rey prodded him hard with the blaster, hitting his shoulder blade. The worst thing was he actually believed his words.

"If you refuse, we have other weapons than the Base you rebels have blown up," he barked at her. She sensed his temper rising, he was becoming aggravated, like a little pest taunted by a predator.

"I'm not interested in spreading bloodshed and terror in the name of your Order, General." Rey sighed. They got into the hangars. She couldn't see the faces of stormtroopers, but their body language said it all. When they saw Hux and her walking in unison, they raised their blasters.

"Prepare my personal shuttle to land back on Korriban," Hux recited as she had instructed him. "Now," he emphasized each letter, until they let them pass.

"It wouldn't have to be bloodshed, you know." Hux raised his icy glare. She had to give it to him – he fought her mind trick harder than she would have thought. Perhaps being spineless didn't mean he had little will in him. The pressure in his skull got worse, so he opted for silence during the voyage. The shuttle was but a few minutes from the terrain. "You have the Force – others would bow down to you, worship you like a manifestation of something more than an emperor. If you were the only one trained, that is."

They had disembarked his shuttle. She jumped off and then yanked Force bound Hux. The moment her feet touched the orange dust, she couldn't silence the noise in her head anymore.

"Shut up, SHUT UP!" She screamed. Hux fell to his knees, clutching his ears in silent agony. Rey was causing this pain, twisting it like a knife in an open wound. The Force pulsed wildly in her veins. She breathed fire. Hux would pay for anyone and everyone that had ever wronged her.

"Stop it," Ren's hand touched her quivering shoulder. Rey turned abruptly, losing balance and almost following Hux to the ground. Kylo Ren caught her, just like he did once in the dream they had. This time, he meant to protect her from harm. He put his palms on the cold exterior of his mask.

"I can't," she heaved," I don't want to do this anymore."

"I know. Don't forget – I feel it too." He whispered in her hair.

She pulled back, just enough to look at his face. His mask lay on sand, next to Hux's contorted body. She saw herself in his eyes; so small and vulnerable at the moment. He looked no different than before. He should have been just a desecrated shadow of a man; burnt beyond recognition from the force lightning, but he wasn't.

"Why have you really come here?" His gaze darkened.

"We received transmission that you've hoarded masses of slaves here, so I volunteered."

Rey disliked the sound of her own voice. Perhaps she just disliked having to explain herself to him.

"Of course you did," tip of his mouth twitched. "It took me five minutes to track your rebel friends. I was hoping whatever you needed Hux for would be quick. I can't stall my troops forever. Your rebels are waiting for you east of the garrison as you had planned – I presume. Go and leave, now. It's the best I can give you."

Rey's hands dropped to her sides. He kept his hold of her, still pulling her to embrace.

"No. I'm not leaving all those people to die here."

This time, he let go of her.

"Martyrdom doesn't suite you, Rey." His eyes briefly lingered on her lips; perhaps longer than he meant to. He could practically see the wheels spinning in her head; trying to come up with a solution.

He sighed. "I was afraid this would happen. I told you – we are never going to be more than this. Don't think I won't stop you if you cross me, because I will."

She stepped back from his shadow and let the harsh sun burn her face. The arrogance in him exasperated her. "You were afraid _what_ was going to happen? If you think I'm some naïve girl who expects you to give me a free pass, then you misjudged me completely."

The nerve he had to even insinuate she needed his help drove her mad.

Her voice rose. "Am I going to pull out my lightsaber? And then what? You pull yours and we fight – yet again; and we both lose. "

"This is news to me – so you finally _don't_ want to kill me?" She had no idea how sensual she looked when angry. He focused on the droplets of sweat trailing down her slender neck; the way she bit her lower lip unconsciously; the harmony in which her chest heaved up and down. He drank it all in, he needed more with each passing second.

Rey wanted to go back to him for more than just his cooling shadow. "No, not kill. But I won't hesitate to maim you if I have to."

Hux moaned as he regained back his consciousness. Ren waved his hand, putting him out again. Rey shot him a dirty glance. She wouldn't mind having him buried in the Korriban sand for all eternity.

"What did he tell you?" Ren asked curious. "I can feel your hatred and disgust towards him. Frankly, he inspires these emotions naturally, but I still sense something else in you."

Rey couldn't open that box. If she did, she would have crumbled on the spot in front of him. "Nothing of import. Now, please, let me pass before I lose the sense of direction because I'm so distracted by you, my hero." She grimaced.

Kylo Ren outstretched his hand in an inviting gesture, leaning on the side. He cleared her path. "Go, then."

She would. She wanted to. And then, she didn't.

Rey spun on the heel. Before she threw herself into his arms, he caught her first. They both needed each other, heat and Hux and all the stars in the Galaxy be damned. Rey inhaled the familiar aroma when she buried her head in the crook of his neck. She missed him ever since she escaped from the temple.

"I don't know what happened between you, but it'll pass." He cradled her chin in his hand. She leaned into him and kissed his lips; taking more than giving this time. She was aware of his breath filling her lungs; his scent percolating her every fiber. He supported her neck and lowered himself instinctively, to get more of her taste. Every heartbeat in her presence passed slower. Every movement of her petite body caused him agony. She was the unique mix between pleasure and pain.

Rey inclined her head to let his trail of hot kisses pass her earlobe. Then, he followed down her neck, gently massaging her pulse point with his tongue. She was panting in pure bliss of his touch as she buried her hands into his hair. Then, he withdrew slowly, burning her soul with his eyes. She understood – he was asking permission without words.

She saw something wild waking up in his gaze; something she had ignited with a single nod.

"Are you sure?" Kylo asked with strained voice.

"Yes," Rey said loud and firm; as if she needed to be clear in what she wanted. Without any more words, he scooped her into his arms, showering her with kisses. Rey didn't register where he carried her; all she wanted was to have more; to taste more of him, to see and feel all there was to this man.

Kylo weighed her in his arms a few times. He had her and he wasn't letting her go. Admittedly, his brain didn't function as it should have. He brought her to the first place nearby, the shuttle in which she and Hux landed.

"It's not the biggest cabin," he panted an apology, as he lowered her on the bed.

"It doesn't even matter, don't you think?" She propelled herself on her elbows, as he hovered above her.

"If you want to…" he hesitated.

Rey silenced him with another passionate kiss. "I told you what I want," the innocence in her eyes burnt him more than anything she could say. She wanted to be with him, _she chose him_. One by one, their garments fell on the floor. He undressed her tunic, and her nimble fingers unfastened his leather belt. Both were working on the body of the other as if it were a sculpture; a masterpiece to be cherished and adored.

Finally, the last piece of her undershirt slid down her shoulders. She bared herself completely in front of Ren, body and soul. She appeared calm, but he noticed the tips of her fingers twitched.

"I haven't…" Rey took a deep breath. He knew what she meant to say, but he let her say it anyway. "I've never been with anyone before," she said; while bravely looking into his eyes; as if she dared him to mock her. "I may not even …"

He quietly unbuttoned his trousers – the last piece of his clothing – and disposed of them. "It doesn't matter, if you trust me." He whispered, as her eyes roamed his naked body. She was no stranger to the lewd tales of smugglers she was forced to listen at Niima cantina. It stripped the intimacy of everything beautiful and pure she was feeling right now. His shoulders were broader and his torso leaner than she imagined. Both of them smiled; kissing and caressing every spare inch of the other.

"Yes," she moaned as his lips brushed past her collarbone, descending lower and lower. He caressed her breasts softly, kneading them in his hands. They were pert and firm, fitting perfectly into his hands. He needed to see her reaction first. He wanted to give her as much pleasure as he would take. He knew he didn't have to be hesitant with Rey; after all, they already shared profound bond through the Force. Their bodies yearned for the other to complete that connection.

"Tell me," he arched her head, licking her sensitive spot behind the ear," tell me what you want."

Rey lowered her eyes; she couldn't put to words what her body thirsted for.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered as he sensed her tension.

Rey grabbed his hand, guiding it down, past her toned navel. His finger merely brushed the inside of her thigh, when she bent her back.

"Fuck," she panted. It caught him by complete surprise, to hear her so wanton; so abandoned in her rationality. It turned him on like nothing he'd ever experienced. He kept massaging her clit between his thumb and index finger, feeling the softest curls dampen with every move. His small strokes widened and widened, till he felt her wet folds open more and more.

He inserted one finger inside her, feeling her walls slowly parting. Rey was panting vigorously, kissing his lips. He felt her breath rising as a mist, filling him with her need and heat. He added another finger, breaking the kiss, trailing down her chest. He took one erect nipple into his mouth, licking and circling it with his tongue. He learnt to direct the pressure into one particular spot which she responded to the most.

"I'm… I think I'm," she grabbed his sides.

"Let go, don't hold back," Ren bit her neck hard. He reciprocated the pain her nails were causing him. Deeper she dug, harder he became. He almost came himself, when he felt her slick walls spasming uncontrollably around his fingers.

"Don't stop." She screamed loudly. She threw her head back, grinding against his fingers. When she opened her eyes, she saw his fascinated face leaning above her. He studied her with bathed breath; still in disbelief that he was the source of her pleasure.

"I need you, now," she whispered. Rey parted her legs, and he positioned himself closer to her entrance. She should have felt satiated, but this first wave only readied her for more. She radiated heat and sweat mixed with her musky fragrance. Ren wanted to savor every moment of this; every taste and touch there was to her.

Suddenly, she took him into her hands. His eyes fluttered in pleasure, as she enclosed his hard and silky cock in her palms. Her thumb grazed his hard head, smearing hot liquid all over his length. His tip throbbed and hurt – he needed the release right now. He pushed himself in as slow as possible; but more aggressively than he would have planned. He held back, afraid he might hurt her. She was more than ready, thanks to her first climax.

"It's okay, I'm all right. I want to feel you, come on." Rey buckled her hips to meet his.

"Fuck," he gritted his teeth, as he buried his cock inside her to the hilt. For a moment, neither of them moved. Ren had never felt such warmth and silkiness enveloping him. It titillated his every nerve. He felt heat and tension spreading from his toes to the small hair on the back of his neck.

"Don't – just wait for a while," he interrupted Rey's hungry movements. He would come at the spot, if she continued. Rey locked her ankles around his torso. Her fingers kept scratching his back in order to distract him from the overwhelming sensation.

She couldn't take it any longer. She wiggled her hips with mischievous smile. Ren looked into her eyes, and then, he planted deep kiss onto her mouth. He thrust in and out, marveling at how perfectly they fit together. The friction became painfully sweet. She met his thrusts with her own and soon, they both panted and screamed in unison. Her slick walls put the sweetest pressure on the whole length of his throbbing cock. He felt every curve, every ridge of her tightness. She relished in the animal noises he made with each thrust. Many had seen him in rage, but only she had the privilege to see him beyond the realm of his senses.

"Damn it, fuck, Rey…" a string of incoherent words and curses rolled out of his tongue, as she used her ankles to push him even further inside. The slap of their flash made her go wild; she was dripping wet and craving more. Kylo focused on her breathing when he remembered the thing she wanted him to do. He touched her clit again – and that seemed to drive her over the edge.

"Look at me," he grabbed her chin with his free hand. Rey didn't know who she was or where, all she registered was the budding warmth and tightening building up her navel. The tension crawled from her painfully erect nipples to the base of her spine.

"Ben!" She screamed, as her walls clenched around his cock. She stifled more of her frantic moans when she bit his shoulder. That combined with her milking him caused him to come moments after her. He thrust deep and hard, hitting her cervix, when he felt painful tug accompanied by the bliss of his release. She felt something hot dripping down her thigh, as she woke from her own postcoital ecstasy. He rested his head on her chest while Rey absentmindedly stroked his hair.

They both struggled to catch their breath. When he withdrew out of her, she immediately missed his presence. Ren raised his head, adjusted himself to lie next to her. She slid under his arm, and together, they embraced in silent transition from the storm to the calm.

"If you ask me if I'm all right or if I regret it, I will punch you." Rey craned her head to look at him.

He brushed wet strand of her hair form her forehead. "Are you all right and do you regret it?" He grinned.

She hit him playfully on the shoulder. Then, she sat up. "Did I do that?" She covered her mouth with her hand. Ren noticed several bite marks and scratches Rey had left on his torso, back and neck.

"I'd say you gave back," he smiled at his bite marks on her breasts and collarbone. He tugged her back, closer to him. He needed to feel her skin next to his. They didn't have to speak – they already said more than any words ever could. He was making small circular patterns on her back, when he heard her yawn. Then, in a few minutes, her body relaxed and she fell asleep.

Ren was lying on his back, with the woman who completed him under his arm. Her silent, even breathing sounded like a lullaby; the most beautiful songs that even the Force couldn't compose. They did it - they could. Together, they could do anything.

* * *

 **A/N BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING! (pun intended). So - love it, hate it, drop me a hint so I know. The first time is always slightly awkward, but I feel for all her shyness, once she gets to it, Rey will go wild. *sweats nervously***


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Both Kylo and Rey indulged in dreamless slumber. No haunting visions, no dreams or eerie premonitions visited them in their sleep. Rey slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark, bathed in soft mated glow peering from the shuttle windows. She felt cooling liquid silk slide down her bare shoulders.

She was lying on her side, with Kylo's arm stretched under her and their fingers laced together. She blew the hair out of her face and shifted a bit. She felt his calm breaths on her skin. He was still asleep. Rey reached out and touched his face. All his features were a bit large and asymmetrical, now that she thought about it. Still, there wasn't a face in the universe she found more endearing. She traced the outline of his aquiline nose, down to his soft lips; too soft for a man of his stature. Then, she landed on his scar.

"It's your scar, not mine," he grunted half-asleep. "You gave it to me."

"Get out of my head," she leaned away in mock insult.

Kylo smiled and brought her back closer. He opened his eyes and yawned. Rey felt slight reverberations of the cabin walls and she tugged her blanket closer to her naked body.

"Are we…wait – are we in space?" She drew herself up, trying to peek out of the window.

"Hmmm," he murmured softly. "You fell asleep first, and I wasn't really planning on Hux waking up and finding us in his shuttle, so I attached a mobile droid and ordered him to orbit Korriban."

String of sobering thoughts hit Rey. She was alone in a shuttle with Ren; in a shuttle no one knew about and practically defenseless. She glanced around the cabin, but she saw no sign of her clothes or lightsaber. She laid her head back on the pillow. Her hair circled her head like a halo; her eyes kept shifting form one point on the ceiling to another and her hands trembled under covers.

"You know, you would be more inconspicuous if you just smacked me with that ionizer and tossed me out into space. At least it would be unexpected."

Rey swiveled to meet his eyes. He measured her with a hint of amusement; but she glimpsed a flicker of disappointment.

"It's not that I don't…"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I understand." He rolled off her and wiped his eyes. "In fact, I feel the same way. You're more dangerous than any knight or Jedi I've ever met."

"Ben, listen. I'm not afraid of you, but I've always been ready to either flee or fight. It's all I've known, growing up on Jakku."

"I know," he raised himself to his elbows. Then, he furrowed his brows. "Why do you keep calling me Ben?"

Rey expected any other question except the one she got. "What?" She blinked. "Do I?"

"Yes, you do." He brushed her forearm gently.

She smiled. She never would have guessed the man she once fought to the death was the affectionate type. He always seemed to be touching her or caressing her in some sort of way, often subconscious. He fell asleep holding her in his arms, while she sprawled over the bed, happy for that extra space she had missed on Jakku. He was the one to hold her hand and kiss her when she would only think of doing so. He didn't want to lose any opportunity to feel her.

She remembered conversations with Luke and Leia about the child he once was. Rey sighed – she found his hunger for affection sad, but understandable. She was a loner; a street urchin who repelled people and aliens to stay alive.

Touch on Jakku meant marking of a property, and that meant fate worse than scavenging. Every time Unkar Plutt laid his paw on her, she shuddered. Kylo dropped his hand, gazing into her eyes.

"You're doing it again, aren't you?" She asked quietly. "You're in my head."

"No. I'm not purposefully trying to read your mind. I'm not." He confirmed louder."I just feel your emotions more vividly since we…"

Rey frowned and placed his hand back on her arm. He let it slide, further down her stomach and hip. His fingertips barely touched her skin, but she felt familiar pull towards him building in her stomach.

"Do you mind if I touch you?" He asked. "I don't want to cause you discomfort."

"No. Some things just take longer getting used to," she whispered.

A bright satellite just passed their shuttle, casting cold, soothing glow into the cabin. His face paled in the star light, contouring every curve of that peculiar visage she grew to love.

"When I say I can feel your emotions more intense, I mean it. I'm sorry you had to grow up on that junkyard of a planet." He said, planting a small peck on her throat.

"I'm sorry you had to grow up with legends instead of real people," Rey nuzzled under his neck. She felt intoxicated by his presence; the strong pull of something he emitted excited her.

"Rey, no matter what we might feel for each other – don't make my tale into tragedy. Your life was hard, in the conditions harsh beyond your circumstances. I chose my path. Nobody forced my hand. You must never forget what I am."

" _What_ you are? If you can't label yourself as a person, how can you live on?" She asked, biting her lip.

Ren gently pushed her away. He pressed the com button on the wall and ordered the autopilot to maneuver them back to Korriban. He got up and picked up his discarded clothes from the floor. Rey started to do the same. They didn't shy away from each other. Being naked didn't cause any awkward tension in the room. She wasn't ashamed of the body which no longer belonged only to her; and Kylo couldn't help but find her perfect, bare or clothed.

He clasped his belt, when he felt Rey's lingering gaze on him. When he caught her staring, she quickly looked away.

"What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath, but the words died on her lips. She couldn't bring herself to explain what she felt the moment his black robes were back on. Tall specter clad in black haunted her on Starkiller Base. Creature in the mask killed Han Solo and maimed Finn. Master of the Knights of Ren would have killed her on Lothal, had the mountain not collapsed. Even in the temple, her lightsaber charred those repulsive robes in hope to wound him. Rey stilted a sob fighting to surface from her throat.

"Stop," he came closer. "Please, don't do this to yourself. We're still the same people as when we first met. I know exactly how you see me, but you also know what I felt the first time I laid my eyes on you."

Rey pictured the interrogation room and the mask he slammed into the ashes.

"Not that." Kylo said. "Even before, in the forest. You must have felt it even before I realized what it was. I would never truly harm you… You must know, deep down, you must know…"

"What happens now?" Rey avoided his gaze. "What if you walk out of here and go back to the Order? What if you use that new connection we forged against me?"

Ren's posture changed the same way as if he took a hit from the blaster. His face paled. "You think I'll run to Snoke and sell you out? Is that what you really think?"

"I know you won't, because I will not sell you out to the Resistance. Believe it or not, your uncle and mother would see you dead. They're not all into the whole redemption thing as I am."

The moment she said those words, she regretted it with every inch of her being. It was hard to be considerate to one's feelings, when all she had to consider in the past was not to disturb Unkar's sleeping schedule.

Kylo said nothing.

She felt no anger or hatred from him, only silence; which permeated the shuttle until they landed on Korriban. Once the ship touched the surface, Rey's personal micro tracker started beeping wildly. They tried to locate her despite the attention it attracted.

"Your wrist is glowing red. I guess you're friends are looking for you." Ren motioned for her to descend first.

"That's an understatement. I think they're panicking and the whole Outer Rim has gotten my hologram in pursuit."Rey sighed, kicking into random sand heap.

The man she spent the whole day and night with disappeared at last; hiding under the mask of Kylo Ren. Her slight recoil didn't escape him when he put it back on. Despite herself, she forced a smile.

Ren pulled out a small navicomputer disc and entered several digits. He handed it to Rey. "Follow these coordinates and you will reach past the nearest checkpoint. You can pass safely without triggering any alarm with this code. It's changed daily, so don't think your rebel friends can use it in the future. It's only for you. When you use it, destroy it so that no one will find it. Once you're past these coordinates, you can transmit without being recorded by the First Order – so hurry now. Contact your friends and go."

Rey grabbed the navicomputer and shook her head. How could he be business as usual after what happened between them?

"Please, take it off for a second." She nodded towards his head.

"Why?" He asked in the deep, dark voice of the monster.

"Because I find hard to apologize to the faceless mask when I offended the man behind it." Rey sighed.

It cost her a lot to admit something like that. She feared he would mock her. She expected vicious grin behind it, and him telling her none of it was real. She was terrified of being used, more so than death itself.

After a minute, the latch clicked and she gazed at his face once again. His eyes looked no different than when she moaned in ecstasy below him. She learnt to read the gaze reserved only for her. It was intense and all consuming and it never changed. She recognized it, because she was the sole focus of his universe. He was looking at her with the same compassion and kindness she had longed to see.

Rey kissed him, without any hesitation. She hoped to convey all her sorrow, fear and hope into one lingering kiss.

"I thought you wanted to apologize," he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I just did." She captured his lower lip between her teeth. Ren pulled her closer, as close as physically possible and entered her mouth with his tongue. He felt his cheeks dampen from the tears sliding down her eyelashes. Her lips and hands trembled. At that moment, he found someone else he would have died for, besides his own quest to hell.

The lovers stood on the planet where empires were born and crumbled, holding each other like a precious gem. He knew she wouldn't break and Rey knew he wouldn't run. Yet, the last thing they wanted was to let go.

Rey finally did. She wiped her eyes and started walking to the checkpoint, without looking back. If she had, she would have seen Kylo watching her retreating shadow for a very long time.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

* * *

She glanced at the digits from time to time, just to maintain her course. She had left her speeder hidden behind that boulder, and now, she toiled through the inhospitable Sith planet; alone in the dark.

She pocketed the navicomputer, but here and there, she twirled the little disc in her fingers; perhaps not to feel so abandoned. She looked up at the starry night sky. When she stayed with Kylo, the stars were shining like living organisms. Now, she found them hollow. Everything seemed dull and lifeless. The terrain of Korriban was but a barren wasteland; but when he carried her to the shuttle, it felt like oasis.

She didn't play a chastising monologue in her head. She knew what they were doing and she bore no regrets. What she felt was anger. Not with herself, but the circumstances of their relationship. Life played a joke on her, yet again. Orphaned, starved and lonely child on Jakku didn't know love. Now, when she could love, the only man she gave it to happened to be her mortal enemy. Even that word – love, was an abstract concept in her mind, before she felt it towards him. She wouldn't tell him, of course.

The confession made it real; the confession closed the door. There would be no turning back. Besides, Rey suspected he didn't feel so strongly. He felt _something,_ because his body didn't lie. She might have been inexperienced, but even she recognized the passion born from deeper feelings, not lust. She wanted to be loved and desired. Would she believe it, though? She believed when traders told her she was a good scavenger, because there was profit in that flattery. She believed when she felt something in her hands; a loaf of bread, a piece of cloth. Feelings were just empty words.

Real life taught Rey more than any training with Luke Skywalker. She learnt to trust herself first. When Sullust raiders stormed the cantina in search for her, it was her staff which got her from that pickle. She had negotiated her contract when Plutt meant to cheat her out of her portions. Help never came; and Rey needed it many times.

Words didn't tie people together – contracts did. Those she couldn't break. There was a guarantee of return for her part of the deal. How could she now put her trust into three words, no matter who confessed them?

"You can't go against what is right." She repeated in silence. "You can care for him and if it destroys you, so be it. But only you – that price is fine, that price you can pay. The relationship can't endanger your mission, the Resistance, or innocent people."

That was the line Rey drove on her five hour long hike towards the checkpoint. That was the line she swore she'd never cross; no matter how many tears it would cost.

"Damn it," she cursed when her legs refused to carry her. Stumbling was so easy. She got up, dusted off her tunic and went on.

The shine of the stars paled; her body ached and she felt a gaping hole inside her chest. She felt the kind of tiredness that no sleep could replenish; the thirst which no drink could quench. All physical sensation disappeared. She didn't feel chilly breeze of desert night or the way her knees buckled in the sand. She paid no attention where she went, only from where she came. She walked absentmindedly, startled by the aura of the rising sun on the horizon.

When she finally got to the checkpoints, she threaded carefully. It was a metallic booth with several windows and scanners, operated by a single imperial probe. Once the droid scanned the disc, it beeped and lifted the ramp. Rey shuffled her feet past it. She should have felt relieved she passed unharmed. She would have preferred anything, but the nothingness that crept into her thoughts.

When she finally got to the arranged extraction point, she collapsed, sliding down the metal walls of the garrison.

"I feel like I've crossed half the planet," she whispered to her wrist.

No answer.

"Hello? Finn, Poe, it's me – Rey. Do you copy?"

Apparently, they didn't.

"Nevermind," she got up. She had saved herself before, and she would have to do it again. The only difference was that this time, she wasn't sure she wanted to be saved. From what, exactly? Ren didn't terrify her and the First Order changed from the force to be reckoned with to the political dwarf.

Suddenly, she heard voices.

Rey's instincts kicked in. Her body crouched behind a metal container before her mind ordered her to. She ducked down. Four armed stormtroopers passed her hiding spot.

When their chatter subsided, she crawled few feet to another container. To add fan to the flames, her wrist beeped and buzzed at the most inopportune moment.

"Rey? We g- your me-ge, Rey – can you he—us? We - tioned in the - " static swallowed chunk of the message.

One of the guards raised his fist in the air. "Halt," he stopped. "I think I heard something back there."

"This is the third time you think you heard something. We have orders to search for that woman and I'd rather get it over with. We still have half the garrison to scout. Stop wasting our time." Another stormtroopers said.

"Wait here." The first voice grunted. Hux must have issued a search warrant on her head – understandable, after the way she left him.

Rey closed her eyes in panic.

She grabbed her wrist to shut the voices, but the transmission played on the loop. She started frantically digging a hole in the sand. The trooper was walking towards her container, looking for the source of the sound which should not have been heard at night. Rey shoved her hand to the sand up her elbow and lied down. She put her other hand across her mouth to suppress the breathing. _Use the mind trick, use the mind trick_ ; a voice kept telling her. While she could fool one stormtrooper into opening the restraints, she wasn't sure how to subdue four.

A pair of boots cast long shadows on the container wall. Dust swirled around the ankles that paced back and forth. Rey felt like reliving a night terror from which she couldn't wake up. Suddenly, the stormtooper leaned over the container and peeked behind its back and the wall – the precise place where she was hiding.

He peered down, right into her eyes. He saw her, looking right at her – she knew he did.

Rey raised the hand from her mouth to the air timidly. Unsure of the outcome, she waved it in front of his helmet. " _All clear. It was a stray cat. You can move on._ "

To her surprise, he pulled back. "All clear. It must have been stray tooka cat, or some other vermin. There's nothing here."

Rey couldn't process what had just happened. She dug herself out of the sand hole and brushed her tunic. "Finn? Where on earth are you? Can you hear me now?" She asked. Instead of response, she heard familiar beeping behind her.

"BeeBee!" The droid rolled its head around. It projected small hologram of Poe Dameron, telling Rey to walk about three miles west. She followed BeeBee and together, they arrived to their old ship.

"We sent BeeBee Eight for you when we figured the transmission didn't go over." Finn said coldly. "When you didn't come back, we had to hide behind Korriban's satellite. We couldn't stay here overnight because the Order would have most likely picked our frequency; even at the pole. So let me ask you – where were you? How come you passed those damn checkpoints, unharmed?"

Rey shrugged.

She didn't care for Finn's reproach. Her neck was stiff – she cared about that. Diode in her wrist itched – she cared about that. Anything else was a blank canvas. Here she stood, like a starved animal fresh out of hibernation, and he spoke of _their_ fear and their worry.

"Rey," Finn put his arm on her shoulder."What happened? We were worried sick about you. We almost alarmed half the Resistance…"

"… but luckily, I had more faith in you than Finn." Poe walked closer and sized Rey up. The usual sparkle in his dark eyes was gone. When sure she was indeed unharmed, he sat down, letting out a weary sigh.

"It came close to us blowing the cover and calling a search party for you. It's a miracle we didn't get busted here. We heard Hux got attacked. Then, we saw the stormtroopers running around the garrison like chicken with their heads cut off, because they couldn't find their leader. First Order highest ranking official gets hurt and the closest thing to a Sith lord in their midst vanishes. So – tell me, which part were you responsible for?"

Rey was staring into empty space. Didn't they all play by the same rules? Why was she the only one smart enough to let her personal feelings out of their mission? If they only knew how much she didn't want to be here, with them; that she found greater comfort and understanding in the hands of their enemy. Why did _she_ had to draw the line and they didn't? It hurt not to cry like a child. It took all her energy to curb the budding anger. She felt like a hot furnace at that moment, chastised by the men she had once saved.

"What did I ask you when I found you on Rakata?"

"What?" Poe blinked.

She still didn't meet his gaze. "What was the first think that I asked you once I found you hunched in that magnetic field cage?" Rey repeated stoically.

Poe shot a quizzical glance at Finn, who cleared his throat. "You asked how to open that thing."

"Exactly." Rey bounced off the wall and walked to the middle of the cabin. "I didn't act like I was doing you a favor. I didn't dress you down and scold you for getting captured. I blasted the lock open and kept fighting. To this day, I don't know how or why you got captured by the Order, but I bet you did something stupid. So I don't understand, why the first damn thing out of your mouth, is to make me feel like such a burden to your mission."

She didn't raise her voice. It was the tone which brought chills down their spines. Poe got to his feet and stood next to Finn. The whole cabin shrank under weight of something strange.

"You," she stepped closer to them," have picked a bad time for your tirade, when an hour away, there is a whole slave colony waiting for our help. Our help! We all have to make sacrifices. We all have to do things we hate!"

The dashboard panel started beeping. Several screens burst into flames. Sparks flew and cracked the glass surface. She was approaching them like a caged animal that was finally let free. She had no control over her rage. She didn't mean to damage anything, but when her shaking hand dropped towards her lightsaber, it took all her strength not to draw it.

 _Kill him – even if he can't die; kill him again and again. They can die… they deserve to die._

That voice – it was the voice spurning her wicked thought into action.

"Rey – calm down, Rey." Poe had no idea what do to not aggravate her further. He reluctantly removed his blaster; visibly enough to let her know he had no intention to use it on her. "I think something happened to you. I think it's not us who you're angry with. We're your friends," he put his hands in the air in the gesture of surrender. "We were just so worried."

Finn followed his lead. "If you want to tell us…"

"No." She cut him off. There would be no point – they didn't understand. The heat crept from her cheek down her neck, to her chest.

 _You are the Emperor's legacy; the daughter of the dark side. There are others in the First Order – those who would rally to your side. You could rule the Galaxy without bloodshed, if you were the only Force user in it._

She heard Hux loud and clear, in that small insignificant cabin, standing next to two insignificant rebels. The little ball droid beeped in the corner, several screens still produced foul smoke; and Finn and Poe still lingered on her lightsabre handle.

And to all, her wrist itched and burnt like wildfire. So, this was how giving into the dark side of the Force felt. Something cataclysmic and all consuming got hold of Rey. Another computer screen exploded. She held back because she still knew it was the right thing to do, not because she wanted to. On the contrary – she _desired_ to be rid of them; of Skywalker, of the First Order… She would take them all out…she could do it…and then, she would rule.

"Enough!" Rey screamed. "Stop it!" She yelled at that insidious voice in her head.

She clawed the tracker with her bare hands. In one swift scoop, she scratched it from her flesh; letting blood trail down her wrist. Both Finn and Poe jumped at her. Finn quickly took the lightsabre while Poe's hand enveloped her wrist.

"What did you do?' he asked panicked.

The spell broke.

Rey woke up from that night terror she lived since she left Ren's shuttle. As quickly as it came, the anger waned. The flame within her changed to cooling waves, washing up all the pain, misery and doubt.

"I got rid of the voice," Rey whispered. She didn't register bandages Poe wrapped around her hand. Finn led her carefully to one spare cabin in their ship. He lay her down onto bed and tucked her in. He planted a loving kiss on her forehead which she didn't feel, because she fell asleep in a heartbeat.

"I took this; just to be sure," he threw her lightsabre on the table in the main cabin. Poe was crouching over the navicomputer with a screwdriver in his hand.

"It's done. We're done. We can't jump to hyperdrive, the circuit on the main board is damaged."

"She didn't mean to…" Finn started.

"I know." Poe tossed the tool on the floor, kicking it for good measure. "That was terrifying. Whatever happened to her, we're not gonna be able to help her. She needs someone like her, someone with the Force."

Finn slumped in the chair. "I think it's this planet. All the Sith presence – maybe it's affecting her somehow. You're right, we should get out of here, the sooner the better."

"Best we can do is stay hidden on the pole here, on Korriban, and orbit the planet at night, when they double their patrols. We can start planning the operation to help these slaves. Without hyperdrive, any attempt to escape is pointless. We're gonna have to contact the Resistance and wait for an answer."

"Not again," Finn lowered his worn out head into his palms. The years spent in the First Order seemed like a breezy vacation compared to this. "At least we scouted and confirmed they have slaves."

"And we still didn't get busted," Poe gave Finn's shoulder a light punch. "I think we're doing pretty good. You don't get to blow up a Starkiller base every other day. Most of the times, you screw up the mission, or the mission screws you."

"Yeah?" Finn asked in voice laced with sarcasm.

"Yeah. Welcome to the Resistance, my friend." Poe laid his legs on the table, and in a few minutes, their thunderous snoring filed the whole cabin.

* * *

 ** _A/N "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbiden."_ Jedi knew what they were talking about. How easy it is to long for something forbidden...Thank you for reading and reviews 3**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

* * *

Kylo Ren knelt.

The only person who deserved such honors from the Knight of Ren was his grandfather. Darth Vader's tomb in the Great Sith temple was dimly lit. Two intense rays of light shone in the chamber; on hit the dais and the other stone helmet of the former Sith Lord. Vader was sitting on a granite throne, clad in his armor and helmet.

Young man's face remained fixated on the inscription above. It was written in Aurebesh, the standard sign language of the Galaxy. Several letters were chiseled off; others were peeling and fading into oblivion by the ravages of time.

' _The Emperor's wrath.'_ It read.

That was it.

Ren held out his hand and wiped the dust off the insignia, as if expecting more words, more praise, more curses. His gloved hand didn't uncover anything else besides those three words. Here it lay chiseled in stone; Vader's whole life reduced into one sentence of servitude to the man who ruined the Galaxy.

Kylo got up, disappointed. The trajectory of sun ray shifted a little, hitting another spot on the wall. Ren approached it.

"What do we have here," he muttered at a strange dent at the foot of statue's pedestal. Another set of scribbled characters peeked from under the stone. The second writing was crude and obviously done in a hurry.

"Futhark?" Ren frowned, recognizing the official language of Naboo. The alphabet was elliptical and smooth; it consisted of several circles with loops. Why would someone mark the tomb of Darth Vader with this irrelevant language? Ren narrowed his eyes.

 _'_ _Blood was spilled, but not forgotten. The light faded, but the legacy continues. May he find his Morningstar, even cast into outer darkness.'_

Kylo blinked a few times. The words made little sense to him. Maybe in false hope to understand better, he took off his glove and let his palm linger on the cold granite. He knew of Vader's tragic lovestory and whoever left this message, did too. The language choice of the home planet of Padme Amidala couldn't be more deliberate. The writer honored _her_ , not Vader. She was the Morningstar and he would perish in the outer darkness, undeserving of redemption he so desperately craved.

Ren withdrew his hand as if the stone caught fire. No matter how much he changed in the end; the world would never see Darth Vader as anything more than a murderer.

"Did you find the morale in his story?" mighty voice echoed in the chamber," or did the foolish sentiment cloud your judgment?"

"Supreme Leader," Ren bowed down to the hologram of his Master. "I hoped you would contact me sooner. It's been weeks since you came to me on the Star Destroyer."

"I told you I was needed elsewhere, so why do I hear remorse in your tone? I arrive when I want to arrive and you would do better to show me respect, my Apprentice."

Snoke's eyes roamed Ren's figure. He was taking from him, drawing the most hidden thoughts and emotions to the surface, only to bury them all in shame and disappointment. Kylo resisted, but couldn't help Rey's face flashing in his mind.

"I see." Snoke lurked around his innermost thoughts. "I hope you still know what needs to be done."

"I do. I may have forged a new bond with her, but I know what to do."

"Good. She is dangerous and strong with the Force, so strong that one word from her, and the legions would bow down in admiration. You know of what I speak."

Kylo shifted his weight from one leg to another. Snoke's mind probe was smothering him. He barely kept his balance; as the walls of the tomb kept closing in on him.

"I know," he spat in fury. "Why do you think I come here? I don't pray to hollow masks and dead statues. I come here to be reminded of my grandfather's weakness, so that I won't let the girl be mine."

"You can be the most powerful Force user in the Galaxy, yet you still need masses. What good are they when they serve her? Politics, Kylo Ren; never disregard politics. Thirteen imperial governors – just thirteen is your whole First Order; not the stormtroopers and space ships. When Emperor Palpatine dissolved the Senate, he gave power to these regional governors. Each has ruled his own star system; loyal to the bone; they owed everything to Palpatine. Now, when his granddaughter resurfaced, how long do you think it will take them to follow her?"

"I know her. She won't accept her rightful place. She's a Jedi, they are weak on principle. She, too, will remain weak and easily manipulated." Ren stood his ground.

"Stop lying to me," Snoke hissed mere inches from Ren's face. "She's imbued in the dark side of the Force. Yes, she can balance it for now, but one drop can tip the scales and she will be lost to the dark side."

Ren knew of the fall; he tasted the temptation and the power. Once lost, no one could control her, just like the Sith of the past; volatile and murderous. He couldn't bear Snoke's gaze. Back at the temple, kneeling next to her, he swore he wouldn't serve anyone, ever. That included her. Just for a second, Ren entertained the idea of Rey leading the First Order; the fallen Jedi shrouded in the red and black flag.

"She could rule them, but who would rule her from the shadows?" Snoke tempted. "Don't let the Jedi be your undoing, Kylo Ren. She would kill you in a heartbeat if it came to the choice."

Ren's eyes shot up.

"Ah, yes – the choice," Snoke circled him like a vulture. "If she had to choose between following your steps and saving her friends, it's clear whose path she would walk. You were _never_ good enough; not for your absent father, your torn uncle, or the little scavenger. Don't make the same mistake Darth Vader did. Don't follow someone who values empty ideals over your passion."

Ren's shoulders were heaving up and down under the pressure. Snoke's words were burying something within him. He stepped back. The distance helped little to ease the grief. Deep in his heart, he knew she would betray him, given the choice. He craved power. He had it in his grasp. What would he do if she stood in his way to get it?

"She's tainted. Not even Luke Skywalker wanted anything to do with her, when that fool San Tekka brought her to him. He refused to take her as a baby, didn't you know?" Snoke asked, relishing in Ren's growing discomfort.

Kylo sneered. "No."

"So, they froze her in carbonite, and smuggled her from one planet to another, until the Emperor fell. Only when Skywalker killed Palpatine, they revived her and dumped her on Jakku. What do you think helped a little child survive the carbonite for so long? The dark side of the Force sustained her; nurtured her spirit and body. Yes," Snoke said triumphantly," the darkness always recognizes one of its own. The darkness protected her."

Drops of sweat appeared in the creases of Ren's forehead. He loosened his collar; but it wasn't the robes which rendered him breathless. He sensed it; the mockery of the Force.

"You sense the irony, don't you?" Snoke cackled. "You have chosen the dark side – the place she was born to. You could have chosen dark side a thousand times over, yet you'll never triumph in a place she calls her birthright."

"Thank you, Supreme Leader for your guidance." Kylo Ren said through gritted teeth and bowed his head. When he raised it again, Snoke's grand shadow disappeared. Kylo regarded the tomb with glassy stare. His legs were stomping the stone like blocks of concrete.

He drew the lightsaber, turned it on, and with one mighty thrust, buried it in the statue of Darth Vader. The laser beam melted granite like a stone ripples water. The stone cracked and spilled on the sides, leaving the statue grotesquely deformed. Kylo clutched his head. He saw white dots flickering on the black surface behind his eyes. When the white spots vanished from his vision, he finally slid down the wall. Snoke left, but the seeds he had planted in Ren's head didn't.

"I know what to do" he whispered.

He had to be rid of her. The feelings he had for her prevented him from killing her – for that, he was far too gone. But he could dispose of her, cast her into some outer rim planet; and forget. It was time he took the First Order in his hands. After all, they served a Sith lord before and they would do it again. He rested his forearms on his bent knees, and banged the back of his head against the wall, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Those eyes with specks of green haunted him, when he closed his. He felt her touch when he sat still. She was the first person whose skin he felt against his own in a decade. Prisoners and enemies touched him, often in the last moments of their lives. He felt it; when he removed his gloves; that iron grip of their hands which grew weaker and weaker, until their limbs fell at their sides.

That was the only kind of contact reserved for the Jedi killer. His mother used to touch him all the time when he was a child, when he was still deserving of that gesture. Now, Rey's drove him wild and at the same time, caused him pain. She had no idea; the girl loved by all who met her. She invited touch. Her smile and beautiful face tempted a man to hold her. Not him. He was repulsive, nothing but a soulless monster. He embraced that role gladly to pursue his goal. Imposing his will on the weak made him feel strong. Serving the most powerful dark Force user made him feel important. But Rey – Rey made him feel happy. He would protect her from the person he needed to become. He would protect her because she was _his_.

He stood up, wiped his robes and retrieved still blazing lightsaber from Darth Vader's skull. The wound he inflicted on the statue couldn't be more symbolic. No one would tell him what to do, not Vader and not even Snoke. He forgot everything in her presence. He forfeited the dark side and followed her to the light. The darkness smoldered, but never burnt out _;_ and the only thing he saw before him was the place that was rightfully his.

* * *

Kylo disembarked his personal shuttle. The hangar of Star Destroyer was unusually empty. Hux ordered extensive search for Rey, so the majority of stormtroopers were likely scouring Korriban. Ren patted himself on the back for the trouble her disappearance caused Hux. It felt glorious – to see agitated general go after the woman Ren had helped to escape.

"That's for the slaves," Ren murmured; still bitter for the hours of mind probing he had to endure.

Lieutenant Mitaka marched towards him, each step more hesitant than the one before. "Sir, General Hux is waiting for you in the conference room."

Ren followed, nervously wondering if Rey took his advice and left the planet. He was willing to let slip one set of coordinates to her hands. Not so much protecting the cover of the whole rebel unit. How indistinguishable she was from the rest of the Resistance – in theory. He was betraying everything he stood for when he helped her.

Kylo Ren found Hux slouching over the operation table. "Are you still chasing after the girl, general?" Ren didn't bother cover amusement in his voice.

"I have received new instructions." Hux replied. His calm demeanor unnerved Ren.

"What instructions?"

Hux's maniacal gaze widened. "Do you think I'm going to tell _you_? I don't know what exactly happened, but I know you have been involved in it. I woke up half choked and dazed, my shuttle was missing and your troops found nothing. What a coincidence."

" _What_. _Instructions_?" Ren's voice rose. "Don't forget I can take it from you. Telling me willingly will hurt less."

Hux sprang from the chair like a peacock parading his feathers. "I'm no longer ordered to kill her. I have to capture her alive and bring her to the First Order. The Thirteen will grant her the immense honor of meeting in person. Maybe then she'll see the role she has to play in all this."

Ren realized that this put Rey into more danger than a death sentence. Deep were the claws of the First Order, so deep, that they reached a young Jedi padawan fifteen years ago. If Luke Skywalker's tutoring didn't protect Ben Solo, nothing could protect Rey once the Order wanted her.

"There are others that can break her, using methods far worse than your mind tricks." Hux said.

Ren tried to remain calm. "Why is the Order so bent on having her?"

"Why indeed. Don't act like you already don't know. I don't need to read her mind to learn who she is." Hux joined his hands behind his unnaturally straight back. "That's right, Ren. Those who can't do your magic need to dig deep and look hard. I did just that, and her whole past unraveled before me. She's the one true leader of the Order, the Emperor's granddaughter. She belongs with us, not the rebel scum."

Ren silently observed the shift her name caused in Hux. His eyes glistened. The way he spoke of Rey didn't differ from overzealous heat with which he delivered his grand speeches.

"Then, you can't harm her." Kylo stated the obvious.

"We need her status more than her body. If she won't cooperate, I cannot guarantee her safety."

Bile crept up Ren's throat. They would parade her mutilated body before the First Order like a token; a symbol of the power they wielded. They didn't care for Rey at all. If Palpatine had a grandson, they would chase after him. The Galaxy had been thrown into feuds for too long. If one bloodline could end the power dispute, the Order wanted it. They didn't care if they had to bleed her dry; all that mattered was the heritage.

Lieutenant Mitaka entered the room. "Sir, we have spotted an irregularity in one of our western checkpoints."

"What?" Hux leapt towards him.

"The droid raised the ramp at 3:15 in the morning, following the confirmation of the right set of security coordinates. It's just…" Mitaka gulped. "Whoever passed did so on foot. There was no additional set to register a vehicle or a speeder; as you know is mandatory. I thought it odd. Why would our stormtroopers needed to pass a distant checkpoint at night, without proper motorization?"

"Unless that someone was walking because they had no other choice," Hux snickered triumphantly. "It must have been her. She's still here and I will find her. Triple the patrols of the garrison and also in the air. We have to start scouting Korriban's orbit – they might be hiding somewhere behind an asteroid, or a satellite."

Ren ambled towards Hux. He tried to diffuse the tension and lessen the impact of this news. "Why would she still be here, Hux. So what, she stole the coordinates and sneaked past the checkpoint. You're being paranoid. She's long gone, as are her rebel friends."

"No, no, no. Didn't you hear – she wants to free the slaves; _my_ slaves who are drilling to arm the Order. I don't have to remind you how important they are to our cause. Now that rebel filth blew up the Starkiller base, we have to rely on new chemical weapons to control other systems. It's a long process and we need all the slaves we can get. She won't leave. She's still here and I will get her."

Hux stormed off after Lieutenant Mitaka. He forgot all about Kylo Ren, the slaves, the Order. He dropped it off at the slightest prospect of having Rey in his grasp. Kylo grabbed the edge of the table till his knuckles whitened. The choice he had to make came sooner than he was ready to accept it.

* * *

 **A/N Snoke is a dick. The End.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

* * *

Rey woke up to the sound of her grumbling stomach. She yawned and dove her head back under the covers. Life felt good first few seconds after she regained consciousness. Then, she remembered previous night, and all her peace was gone. She tossed the blankets and rushed to the sink. She observed her pale visage through the bloodshot eyes. She splashed cold water on her face, feeling like a ghost. Her cracked lips looked dry; the veins on her forehead became more prominent.

"Ouch," she hissed, as her wrist unintentionally brushed the sink. "Oh no," Rey whispered. Red spots emerged on the white gauze, just enough to signal that her hand was still not healed. Then, she heard laughter; rich and exalted noises coming from the main cabin.

"Rey!" Finn handed her a cup of hot tea, once she sauntered there. "How are you? Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," she nodded, swaying from one leg to another. She had no idea how to look them in the eye after her outburst. Her eyes scanned the damage she had caused. Several wires were peeking from the dashboard. BeeBee rolled around in a crunchy sea of glass on the floor from the broken screens.

"I heard you shouting – is everything all right?" Rey asked as she brought the cup to the edge of her dry lips.

"More than that," Poe beamed."We didn't notice it until this morning, but it looks like we're finally onto something."

Rey furrowed her brows. She followed the trail of Poe's eyes, focusing on something on the table.

 _No._

That couldn't be true. Amidst the debris, wrenches and cut wires lay her navicomputer disc; the one Kylo Ren gave her to sneak past the checkpoint. It must have fallen out of her pocket. She was supposed to destroy it, but she forgot.

"Where did you get that?" Rey's voice quivered. She clutched the hot mug, basking in the burning sensation.

"We found it on the floor – I presume that's how you got past the guards? Clever," Poe patted her hand. "Did you nick it on the star destroyer? I bet Hux turned his back on you for a second, and you outsmarted him."

Rey forced a weak smile. "Yeah, something like that. Well, give it to me. I better get rid of it, maybe they have some ways of tracking us through it."

Finn gently slammed her reaching hand. "No, Rey. That's the best part. Hear him out."

Poe took the disc and unscrewed the top lid, revealing a mechanism similar to ordinary computer. "Look, I bypassed the tertiary circuit and disabled the radar frequency, so they can't track us. But," he took a deep breath, getting ready for his big reveal," we can reach _them_. We've been working on an algorithm with BeeBee the whole morning. You know how they always change the codes, right?"

Rey nodded.

"They follow a certain pattern, and we figured it out. Actually, Finn did – he trained cryptography at the Academy. Fist Order didn't count on defected stormtroopers to figure it out. But we did!"

Rey bit her lip. She couldn't concentrate on anything, besides the pain in her wrist and rising panic in her chest. She heard Poe's voice as if swimming underwater. It echoed distant and distorted.

"So, we can basically disable their planetary shields, if we go back enough and work out the primary combination they use – a blueprint. You know what this means? The Resistance can plan a final attack on Korriban. We can take them by surprise, and they'll be defenseless."

 _She was supposed to destroy it_.

Rey shook her head. She hoped to wake up to different reality. "That's amazing!" She smiled. "Well, you work on that and I'll…I think I'll go and scout the perimeter one last time. If we are to get these people into safety during full blown attack, we better have everything mapped out in detail."

Rey hugged them both, congratulating them on their success. Blood was hitting her ears in waves. She grabbed her lightsaber and threw a brown cloak over her shoulders, to blend in with the terrain. Then, she picked up the miniature satellite recorder and headed out. She walked half a mile, but her mind screamed at her. It locked every muscle and bone in her body. Planetary shields of Korriban had been raised millennia ago. The planet was a fortress where no fleet could land, no weapons could pierce it. The Sith used ancient powers of the Force to strengthen it, the knowledge that was now lost forever. That was why Kylo urged her to leave; why he wasn't worried about his safety, but hers.

The First Order felt so sure of their invincibility, that Rey could change everything, if they really did find the blueprint. Maybe she should tell him… Maybe she should just hint, just insinuate – that was not a treason, right?

"I can't," Rey gazed upwards. "I can't do this…I can't betray the Resistance." Her lips let out another string of reassuring words, but her mind fought it just as hard.

The sky was crystal clear.

She needed the Force to guide her, now more than ever. Rey kept surveying the horizon which appeared barren and dead. No birds flew across the skyline, no plants grew around her. She sank to her knees. Time flew, but the only indication for her was the shift of the sun from left to right. The Force had been humming a silent melody. High pitched tones enveloped her essence. She had forgotten everything about the world and herself, and when she finally lowered her eyes, she screamed.

"I heard you. I sensed your call," Kylo Ren took a cautious step towards her.

"What call? What are you doing here?!" Rey shot up to her feet. He could have brought a squadron to gun them down.

"I came alone. You're in pain. I felt it. It doesn't matter, because I would have come to you anyway. I have to talk to you."

Rey wondered what propelled them to meet like this. They didn't want the other to win, but to turn on their own was also unthinkable. He took her hands into his own. One look at her wrist, and his gaze darkened. Rey felt his presence, larger than life. His dominant posture, his deep voice and dark garment screamed power. But she knew better. She tried to free her wrist form his grasp. He tugged her even closer to him.

"You have to leave, and I don't mean when you've finished plotting whatever scheme you came here to execute. I mean today, right now."

"I don't know who you think you a-"

"I am a Sith, Rey, the fact you seem to be forgetting. I'm not going to help you!" He tightened his grip on her. "Hux is onto you and it's only a matter of time till he finds you. This isn't a game for me. You once told me you would kill me because you know about the First Order. Well, you don't know the half of it."

He didn't mean to hurt her. He blinked and eased his touch. He felt miserable manhandling her like that, but if she wouldn't listen to his words, maybe she would understand the gravity of the situation through the brute strength.

Rey pushed him with all her might. He didn't protest. "I would care for my own safety first, if I were you. Just a little advice from me. "She curled her hands into little fists. "You think I'm dependant on your mercy? You think I need your protection? Hux told me everything. I know he's hunting me like a rabid dog. I know he's trying to recruit me to be some kind of cult leader for the Order. You think I would run and hide like a coward, leaving all these poor slaves in your hands?"

She started pacing, unsure what she really wanted him to see, to understand.

"Oh, believe me I know the last think you depend on is me." Ren was up in her face again. "I'm not doing it for you, Rey, because believe it or not, my world doesn't revolve around you. You're a hindrance. You're a weakness that can be exploited. You," he bore his finger into her chest."You…"

Words died on his lips.

His dark eyes were on fire. She stood her ground with a deep crease settled in her forehead. He didn't drop the accusing finger; he buried it deeper in her ribs. Then, he put his entire palm gently under her collarbone. He sensed the pulses of her heart; it was beating much harder than any other heart on the planet. She fought for the right to live ever since she was a child. She defied all odds. Even now, she would prove him wrong, determined to deafen him with that drumming in her chest. He had to keep it beating at all costs. That was his job now, his responsibility. If she hated him for it, so be it.

Then, he blinked rapidly, as if he read something incomprehensible and had to check again. "You are a Jedi. You are a part of the Resistance and I'm in the First Order." He dropped his hand. The epiphany smoothed the wrinkles on his young face.

"So far so obvious. And?" Rey asked. The dazed expression on his face worried her. He suddenly looked determined, as if he made up his mind.

"Leave. Please, Rey. Take my advice and go. I have warned you, I've done my duty. If you get hurt in the process, that's on you." He shrugged. He tried to kill the love. He tried to act indifferent. He was failing miserably.

Mist formed in her eyes, but she blinked it away. That was the worst possible thing he could have told her. She was his _duty_ , and now that he carried it out, he could go and leave her alone. The irony wasn't lost on Rey – he came to warn her, when he was the one in far greater danger from the Resistance.

"No," she faked the resolve in her voice. It sounded firm and detached. "I'm not running away from the First Order. But I'd like to thank the big bad Sith for his warning," she touched her heart in an exaggerated fashion. "The whole Resistance would have crumbled if it wasn't for your deep concern for me. How did I even survive fifteen years on Jakku without you? Thank you," she patted his arm and spun on the heel.

Kylo's hooded gaze followed her retreating back. She wanted to usher him with words that would make Niima cantina look like a church. But she was too shy to actually say them, so she flipped him off. He had to narrow his eyes to believe the heat wasn't deceiving him, when her hand shot up and she showed him that crude gesture.

"Lords of the Sith have mercy on me."He raised his eyes towards the heavens and chuckled. Then he caught himself and his face got serious again. She didn't bother to turn – she knew he would stand there till she was but a small dot on the horizon.

Kylo shook his head. Only Rey brought the whole whirlwind of emotions out of him in one single conversation. Only with the 'little Jedi' he felt free and constrained at the same time. He had to stomp on his conscience to treat her like an enemy, when she was the furthest thing from that. He doubted himself his whole life, but when she pointed out his biggest insecurity, it didn't anger him.

 _Big, bad Sith_ – wasn't that what he always longed to become? He let her peek under the façade and she saw Ben Solo for what he really was. A man worthy of physical affection; a man she didn't have to fear while he held her in his arms. She found him worthy to apologize when she thought she had wronged him. Kylo Ren didn't disappear overnight. He would still rule the Galaxy, he would still triumph and subdue the Force to his will. Only now, he didn't mind sharing that with her.

The hovercraft picked him up on the opposite side of the mountain valley where he met her. He didn't mean to draw any attention to the poles – the rebels must have been hiding there, as he suspected.

"Routine inspection?" Hux didn't raise his eyes from the tablet he read. "Well, we're pretty certain the rebel scum are hiding somewhere on the western side of the valley. It's only a matter of time till we catch them." He finally put down the tablet and cracked his knuckles. "I decided to lure her out, Ren. She loves her little slaves, so I'm going to give her something worth remembering."

Ren had no desire to speak with Hux. He didn't care for his feeble intimidation tactics – unlike Hux, the Resistance actually had a head on their shoulders. He doubted they would fall for whatever Hux had planned.

But something caught his attention as they passed the southern gate of the garrison. A sharp flare blinded him for a moment – the sun rays reflected form a shiny object. Gallows towered in the middle of the dusty square, high and mighty. The laser noose was invisible when not charged, but everyone knew what hung from the metal construction. Stormtroopers were guarding the deadly contraption, and whoever passed it, looked the other way.

"The first one goes tomorrow. You can select them, if you want. I don't care." Hux yawned. "It's all going according to my plan. I'll get the girl to the First Order, the slaves will drill more ore to replenish our gas supply and then, we can finally retaliate against the Resistance. Snoke might have been right – the technological terror is overrated. Who needs Starkiller base, when we can release thousands of chemical droids and poison the atmosphere of the rebel hive? We will fume them out like a vermin they are."

Kylo Ren shifted in his seat. "Your methods seem medieval. Doesn't this set us back thousands of years?"

Poisonous droids were used during the Old Republic according to holocrons Ren studied as a padawan. Galactic senate banned them after the first Sith-Republican Concordat. Obviously, they seemed barbaric even for the Sith.

Hux leaned closer. " _I_. _don't_. _care_." He stressed each syllable. "As long as they're efficient, I don't care if we go at them with spears riding wompas. We'll crush them. Wait and see, Ren. You just wait and see."

* * *

 **A/N Clarification: I'm using term Sith as a terminus technicus. I know it's been pointed out he is actually not a Sith, but that is the denominator of the extent of his powers and the fact he draws from the dark side. Also, now when ne went against Snoke, he considers himself to be already past his training. Also No. 2 - I always had a feeling that ep 7-9 are an interim period, where the fate of those two orders (Sith and Jedi) will be determined, either they rise again (one or both), or they will become extinct. That's also happening in my story, so we shall see. *wink***


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

* * *

Luke Skywalker stumbled again. To his left, he recognized the sound of woods, judging by the shrieking of night animals. Then, he swiveled right where he felt something coarse brushing his side. He needed to avoid another rock, or tree trunk.

"Move on," his companion prodded his back with a sharp lancet. Luke concentrated on his breathing. Deprived of vision, he had to trust his instincts.

"I'm told you're a Jedi Master. Simple blindfold should cause you no problems," second man taunted. His gruff voice sounded closer than Luke found comfortable. He carried himself with difficulty, crossing this harsh terrain. His hands were bound behind his back, so he couldn't feel any potential obstacle – just like the one he bumped into right now.

He slammed into the gnarly branches of an old tree, bounced back and fell on his behind. His companions hollered with laughter. "And he's supposed to be the best of his kind!" They snickered.

"Not best – but certainly last." Gray haired woman emerged from the shadows of the tree. The guard's faces immediately straightened.

"Unbind him, you fools." She ordered."He's just playing along. He could have you flying fifty yards from here just by wishing it."

Luke kept shutting and opening his eyes, until the grainy film vanished and he finally saw murky night sky. "Well, thank you for the company. I'm glad I had such formidable guards. At least I didn't get lost." Luke nodded towards two men dressed in khaki camouflage. They blended into the forest and quickly disappeared.

"Follow me, Luke." She motioned towards the cobbled path hidden in the underbrush. She carried a lantern, dressed in simple white robe fastened with golden belt. Her hair was long and soft. Her skin didn't reveal her true age; she looked wise beyond her years, but not frail. The wrinkles adorned her face, creases of worry for the fate of the Force.

"I didn't know if you'd recognize me, Calla." Luke trailed in her wake. The path coiled and stretched around mossy ground. The only sound in the whole forest was swishing of their robes on crackled leaves.

"Not your face. You've gotten old, my friend. I sensed you through the Force. It really must be in peril, when an untrained priestess such as myself can pick up the tune of the Force."

Luke remained quiet.

"It's true." She glanced behind her back at him. "The Church of the Force stood for centuries, but only our generation can actually feel it. Before, the priests just bowed to it and worshipped the Jedi. Now, we're actually sensing something."

It was as he feared. Rey's awakening might not be a solitary occurrence. The Force was unusually strong with her, but there might have been others who could tap into it. Calla led him to the outline of an old, crashed space freighter.

"I see you've changed the accommodations." Luke smiled.

"It was the wretched Empire. During the times of my mother's service, they came at us and turned the whole Hod Abbadon upside down. We don't live in the lofty temples anymore. Nobody looks twice at a piece of that crashed junk, so we've established our base there."

They entered the ship through the massive steel door, so wide, that ten Millenium Falcons could fit in easily. Their steps reverberated in the hollow interior. The imperial freighter looked exactly like the ones First Order still used. Everything was in its usual place, except all the machines were off, covered in shrouds in the total darkness.

They walked within the maze of corridors another half an hour, before she led him to the main bridge. The fragrance that almost inebriated Luke clashed with the cold, robotic exterior of the spacecraft. It was earthy and spicy; an exotic mix of sandalwood and myrrh. It was rising in the translucent runnels from gilded incense sticks.

Figures dressed similarly to Calla roamed the room. No one paid much attention to anything else, besides their work. Most of them were immersed in translating ancient holocrons. They archived the events stripped of imperial propaganda, in the way they truly happened in the past. Others sat in silent contemplation. Occasional buzz of changing the hologram frequencies cut the air – besides that, silence.

"Why did you come?" Dathomirian man hidden in the shadow startled Luke. He didn't differ from the others. One couldn't guess he was the leader. He wore the entire life story of a warrior written on his body dressed in silver armor.

"I've come to ask for your help."

"You already got it. Wasn't Lor San Tekka the one who was helping you?"

"He helped more than he'll ever realize. It was his sacrifice that set things in motion." Luke said tentatively. He sat down across the man on a wobbly wooden stool.

"So, you've come for another sacrificial pawn?"

"I've come for what the Church swore to me in the past. I've come for your help." Luke repeated. He knew that appealing to this man's sense of honor was futile. He had to get him angry, really angry to get what he came for.

"I'm not giving it to you." The man leaned closer.

Luke saw the whole length of his face. Light shone on the scar which extended from one end of his cheek to the other. His teeth were yellow, his skin like sandpaper. The horns typical for his race were filed down to little stubs. His tattoos were covered in marks and burns. It was the eyes, shiny and green, which stood out.

"Tanakh," the woman priestess called his name. "It's not up to you. The Church swore to aid the light side of the Force by any means. We can't refuse it now, when we're needed the most."

Luke sighed. He didn't mean to cause more strife in their midst; the imbalance was everywhere in the Galaxy. He regretted than it permeated even the ranks of the Church, once so harmonious and peaceful.

"Tell me, Calla, where was Jedi council when clones devastated Abaddon? They mocked us, they treated us like fanatics not good enough to kiss the hems of their robes." His fist hit the table. A glass rolled down and tumbled on the floor, spilling clear liquid.

"Clone wars happened a long time ago. What is done is done. Luke Skywalker wasn't even born yet. You can't blame every wrongdoing on the Jedi. Blame the council, curse the prideful masters of old, but don't close your heart to the man in need." Calla spoke.

The flickering of static in the room got mute, to the point when their conversation echoed in the bowels of the ship. More pairs of eyes followed their heated exchange that Luke would have wished. He cleared his throat. "I do not disregard the past. I need your help against the First Order. There has been…"

"…an awakening." Tanakh finished his sentence. "I know. We've all felt it, even the lowest of our own who can't tell the Force from the gust of wind. Something shifted in the Force." He pointed at Luke. "Was it your doing?"

"Not entirely. The Force led a young padawan to my care, once again. She is the future for us all – but she can't stand alone. The Resistance can't stand alone. "

"We don't mingle in that anymore. Not since the last AT&T walkers crushed out temples. Not since the imperial freighters scorched the land of our ancestors. Not since you lost your own blood to the dark side." His eyes glinted maliciously. He savored the blow these words delivered.

Luke sighed and tucked his sleeve up. He bent down and started picking the shards of broken glass. "I'm not asking you to march into battle with me. I need your men and your weapons. What good will they do to you when you said it yourself – you don't fight anymore. The Resistance is severely outnumbered; we lack supplies and ships. You have star destroyers confiscated from the Empire. If you could spare…"

Tanakh shot up so abruptly, that his chair flew to the ground. Dathomirian's shoulders trembled. "You put us all in danger by coming here. Every minute you breathe our air brings us closer to the spotlight. If the Order finds out we've harbored a Jedi, they'll burn us to the ground. Get out."

"Korriban is full of slaves, Tanakh. We would save thousands of innocent lives destined to never see the sun again. First Order uses them as miners, drilling fifteen hours a day. They find their demise covered in blood and soot."

Tanakh hunched over the table. He rested his weight on his knuckles."We've already tried that before, when the Empire enslaved Outer rim planets. You can't free the slaves – if you do, new ones are shipped in a day. Not only that. For each slave we smuggled out to freedom, Emperor ordered ten more to be executed. " He exhaled sharply, as if it pained him to have a civil conversation with the man he despised.

"I learnt from my mistakes." He pointed to his gash."The only way is to destroy the mines. If you swore to annihilate Korriban, I would be willing to consider helping."

"We would have to vote on that, too." Calla said.

"Vote, yes. Of course, we would vote." Tanakh snorted, gesturing widely. "Whose vote, pray tell, would count as relevant? The scribes who hunch over holocrons for years? Little children who don't know anything about the war; or the old warriors like myself, who hope to spend their last days drunk and spiteful? The Church of the Force is no longer that peaceful bunch of Jedi worshippers. San Tekka was the last one who believed in that nonsense and look where it got him."

Dathomirian pulled the chair back up.

Luke sensed the shift in his demeanor. He got himself caught in the middle of his passion, he opened himself to the world, and that vulnerability meant he still had fire in his belly. Jedi Master crossed his arms, waiting patiently for the storm to pass. Even he couldn't reason with the roaring sea.

"Tell me about this padawan." Tanakh said in quieter voice.

Luke reflected on what exactly was he willing to share. He meant to be vague, but true to the facts. "She's young, but powerful. She fought a Sith apprentice and defeated him twice. She's not without faults – but neither were we, when we were young. She's impatient to prove herself and fiercely independent. She's destined to become great."

"So was Darth Vader," Tanakh huffed. "Well, she sounds exactly like my Master described you many years ago. In which case – I'm not jumping to the roof to follow her. But - I trust your instincts."

Calla dared to speak against her old friend. "He couldn't train one padawan before, and that was his family. What makes you think he won't fail with her? Sorry Luke, I'm on your side, but the older I get, the more I tell it like it is."

Tanakh snickered. "Yes, he couldn't. That's why I believe he learnt his lesson. "

Luke cared little for his reputation. He didn't mind the insults hurled his way. He discarded any sense of grandeur a long time ago. All he wanted was to serve the light side and right his wrongs. His eyes fell on that pile of shattered glass he had collected.

"All I ask is a chance to remedy what I broke. We have the greatest opportunity of our lifetime, Tanakh. We have a Jedi on the side of light, we can have your ships and weapons; we have skilled military generals and the best pilots in the Resistance. We already destroyed the Starkiller base. If there was any time where First Order can suffer a lethal blow, it is now."

"What about Kylo Ren? Here's your powerful dark side user in their midst."

Luke shook his head. "He cares only about his ascend to power. Without Snoke, he's free to act alone. I know him; he's not bound to the Order, he doesn't need them as much as they need him. I swore to my sister I would give him one last chance."

"Does that mean you won't kill him?"

"It means that the decision now rests with someone wiser than us, old fools, trying to leave this world a little less broken than we found it. I'm not marching into battle like a general. I follow the Force, but at least I act."

Tanakh and Calla exchanged furtive glances. Dathomirian wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "We'll sleep on it, Skywalker. We have a lunar night cycle here on Abaddon; the whole planet is immersed in lunar night for hundred days. All we do is sleep, now. Let me dream about your words – maybe I'll find truth in them."

Luke shook his outstretched hand and watched the broken warrior retreat to the dark.

* * *

 **A/N Long time no see Luke...**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

* * *

The scar wasn't there when Sirah was born; the scar was made.

She stroked it dozens of times a day, often not aware of this automatic action. She forgot how she got it; the scar. When she still had a mother it looked red and deep. Now, after two solar cycles on the red planet, the scar paled.

It was the first thing she checked each morning, before the soldiers in white ushered them to the mines. Each step towards the dark pits, she was gazing at the sun. She savored each caress of the sunlight. The march never took long because their shacks were next to the mines.

Sirah didn't know how old she was. She felt like a child because she didn't reach the waist of some of the soldiers; but that couldn't be, because she worked alongside other women. Some old, some sick and destitute, others young with swollen bellies. Sirah understood she came to this world like that – hidden in her mother's belly. Why wouldn't her mother pierce it? Sirah would have, if she ever noticed such a growth. She wouldn't bring another child into the world.

Hers was full of sweat and iron. She tasted the red ore everywhere; in her mouth, in her eyes, it tinged her skin and irritated her ears. She tied her dark hair into two small buns. The color might have been lighter, but since the mines, it forever shone dark red. She crouched to her stones one night after their shift ended. She sneaked into a junkyard, the one she knew under different name. It was a playground for her, not the place for discarded shuttles. The stones were her only friends and distractions from the misery.

"Don't ever let them see you do it!" old woman slapped her hand. She saw the child levitate few pebbles in the air in the darkness of their garrison. Sirah obeyed, too afraid to go against the woman.

Now, when they took her stones away, only the scar was left. The nights turned to days and the days lasted longer than anything she remembered. Then, one such day, a soldier in white ordered them to stop.

As an obedient animal, the whole line of slaves stopped marching. Sirah gazed up. She had to shield her eyes with her hand to see what was happening. A man in black uniform strolled past the women in rags, leisurely as if he had all the time in the world. Sirah didn't understand anything. They had to get to the mines before the sun fully rose. They had to drill and bury their hands deep in the iron ore; otherwise they'd be punished. The carts on wheels had to be rolling; the heap had to be full by the end of each day. Why was this man holding them up?

The woman next to her held her index finger to her lips. Sirah frowned. She might have been small, but she wasn't stupid. She knew when to keep quiet. The man in the uniform stopped mere feet from the girl. He must have been a miner, like them once, because his hair was red as clay. That made her like him a bit more.

As if he sensed her little smile, he came towards her. He held his hands behind his back.

"You," he pointed at her. Sirah stepped forward. The man showed her his teeth. He crouched down and immediately ogled her scar. When she gulped, it became more visible as her throat moved. She really liked this man. The soldiers in white – them she hated. Unlike them, this man with orange hair didn't shout; he even smiled. She liked silence; and when he spoke, it was in the softest voice imaginable.

"Come with me. I have a surprise for you."

Sirah spun to wave to the women in row. They cried – they must have felt happy for her. She would have been happy with a new set of pebbles. Maybe this man wouldn't mind her playing with them. They walked and walked, till he lifted her to a large steel hovercraft. The whole journey speeder flew above the ground; her head was protruding out of the window. The wind was slashing her in the face. Even the breathing, albeit harder when the wind blew so fast, was much easier than down in the mines. She was used to the foul stench and iron. Now, she inhaled clear, fresh air.

He held her hand the whole time after they stepped off the speeder. He led her towards a huge crowd of people, so huge she felt even smaller than in the vast iron pits. Suddenly, she felt the need to touch her scar. She didn't know why – perhaps she felt nervous and missed the familiar. So, she tried to reach it. The man tugged her hand viciously. Sirah stopped. She didn't like him anymore.

"Come on," he spat.

Sirah dug her heels deep into the clay, shaking her head. She was afraid to speak; like a little cat, she resisted his pull on her hind legs. Two soldiers in white then forcefully carried her up a metal platform. All of a sudden, she stood higher than anyone else. She could count all the slaves in the garrison from up there. Not that she knew how to do it – no one taught her. But, she knew that such a thing as counting existed; when she still had a mother.

The gray and brown crowd of people, too beaten to struggle, started hissing. Women averted their eyes in the premonition of what would follow. Men trembled with rage, unable to cross the magnetic force field and save an innocent life. Yet, all had to witness it; all who didn't want to find themselves in her place.

The man with orange hair started talking. His voice sounded no longer soft and gentle; it roared so loudly that Sirah wished she could cover her ears. He spoke of things she didn't understand. She got bored very quickly, so she started shuffling her feet. She liked the sound of metal when she scraped her little boots on the surface. How long would she have to stand there? This was less fun than she thought, what with all the people and no stones to play with. She caught the words such as 'resistance', 'Jedi', and 'execution.'

Her instinct kicked in. When she still had a mother, she told her never to run from bad people.

"If you run, they won't talk – they'll shoot you. You have a better chance to plead for your life when you speak with those who want to take it."

She spun her head frantically – to whom would she speak? Sometimes, she heard voices in her head, mostly when she played with her tiny stones. She didn't recognize them, but perhaps those could hear her now. She closed her eyes and spoke to the voices.

"Please, please get me back to the mines. Please, somebody help me. I don't want to be here."

She never cried, ever.

Not when old Kasha fell off the mining wagon and broke her bone. Not even when the soldiers in white refused their rations, when one miner escaped. Her stomach bled from hunger, but she wouldn't cry. Now, she felt like falling to her knees. She wanted her mother; she wanted to cry. She wished she didn't know why they brought her here; but she knew. The voices whispered to her and she understood.

The man with the red hair stopped speaking and Sirah clutched her scar. He nodded to the soldier in white who lifted her to a small stool. They bound her hands behind her back.

"No!" she screamed.

It was the first time she spoke since she lost her mother. Her lips trembled and something burnt at the back of her throat, as if she swallowed a giant lump.

Out of the blue, a deep voice speared its way into her ears. "Stay calm child. It'll be over soon. You won't feel pain, I promise."

She kicked the soldier who tried to fasten something around her neck. It was invisible, but she felt the pressure constricting her. While kicking, she pleaded again.

"Please, I will mine more. I will work harder, don't hurt me." She must have done something wrong when they punished her like that.

The other voice sounded higher than before; unsure of itself. "I can't help you. Stop struggling. I can see the face of your mother – you can return to her arms, if you but close your eyes for a moment. One single moment, girl, and you can be free."

Sirah was sobbing now, harder than ever in her life. She looked at the sky, color of which she didn't recognize through the tears in her eyes. She forced herself to blink, to sway away the tears. She didn't want the last thing she saw to be a pool of water. She longed for the sky; she hoped for her mother's touch. Would she descend from the clouds and catch her? Would she fall down like the rain which never came on this planet?

The pressure tightened and the man with red hair dropped his raised hand. Just as it swung past his side, time stopped.

The stool fell; the laser beam shot from the noose above her, but some invisible force pulled Sirah out of it just in time. She fell on her knees. When she craned her head, she saw a stranger in black robes and a mask with an outstretched hand in the air.

"What do you think you're doing, Ren?" the man with the red hair screamed.

"I think you should choose more carefully. Why waste a productive laborer when you can dispose of old and sick? She's young and strong with decades of hard labor in front of her. Pick any old crow who is no longer useful."

"I want _this_ one. Look at her. She looks just like the Jedi rebel… if she sees this one hanging from the gallows, she will fight harder to free the others. We'll get to her faster. It's tactical , Ren."

"Need I remind you that the First Order needs to launch the chemical probes as soon as possible? We need iron and we need all help we can get to dig it, so I suggest you be careful and not let your personal interests interfere with our cause. "

The black stranger in the mask looked down on Sirah. She recognized the voice when he spoke – _he_ was the voice in her head; he helped her.

"Take her back to the garrison." He motioned to the stormtroopers. In her mind, he warned her not to utter a single word of what she felt. "Never speak of the voices to anyone, little girl. In fact, it would be best for you not to speak at all."

Ren cast a large shadow over slaves huddled behind the magnetic field barrier. He didn't want to witness it; the execution. When they dragged the little girl up; he counted all the grains of sand under his feet. When the wind billowed through her fray tunic, she looked like an apparition from another world, something that didn't belong here.

Her face morphed with Rey's. The girl's breaths swished in his ears. She stood proud on the scaffold, like a little birch tree bent by a strong wind. He prayed for her oblivion to last, but it didn't. He divined the exact moment the birch tree realized it was about to be cut down. Her forehead, once smooth and curious, now turned into creased bark.

She kicked the guards without success; that foolish gesture alone could cost her. Ren's breaths fanned the inside of his helmet. He would have wiped up the sweat mingled with something else from his cheeks, if he could unmask himself.

 _"_ _Please, help me, please. I will mine more. I will work harder."_ She cried for the help that would never come.

The crowd's anger started bubbling to the surface. They jeered and pushed the stormtroopers further towards the field. It crackled when it came into contact with their uniform. Kylo Ren spoke to her – why wouldn't he? Just like he watched the destruction of the Hossnian Prime, alone in the dark; he didn't mind being the only voice of comfort in her final moments.

He let her emotions flow inside him. A distinct olive skinned face stood out among the eternal sea of iron ore; the girl longed for the mother she could barely remember. She would see her if she stopped and let them take her, he whispered to her.

Her head shot upwards. She drank the whole summer sky as she trembled in fear. His heart ceased pumping blood, it trilled in one continuous hum; hurling adrenaline into his limbs. Even thought his head buzzed, he felt rooted to that sand he stood on.

The girl couldn't breathe as they tied the force noose around her neck. Ren pivoted his head away from the horrific scene. To end an old man's life like this was a merciful deed; not hers.

This child was Force sensitive.

He would have put her down himself a year ago, before he killed Han Solo, before he let Hossnian Prime be wiped out…before he met Rey.

His head snapped back. Rey dangled from the gallows, not the girl. They could have been one and the same person; these little birch trees. They grew up alone despite the fire in the forest threatening their destruction. Rey survived same things as this little girl. He would save her for someone, somewhere, in the far corner in the Galaxy. It wasn't her time to meet her mother.

Despite his effort, he still couldn't move. Only when they pulled the lever and the noose immediately glowed bright red, he threw all his will into the Force push. The girl fell down. She met his eyes. He saw what he once glimpsed in Rey's – they regarded him as more than a monster in the mask.

He didn't know how he kept his poise when arguing with Hux. The garrison gradually emptied as the curfew fell soon. He finally ripped his mask off only when the girl and everyone else disappeared from his sight. His body collapsed in the sand dipped in droplets of his sweat.

Stormtroopers on duty didn't dare to comment.

They passed his slouched form as if nothing happened; as if he didn't commit the greatest act of humanity in his whole life. He saved Rey before, but this impacted him more. His reasons were less selfless now. He needed Rey like one needs water to live. He saved her because he needed her, otherwise something terrible would happen.

This girl – this girl he saved for someone else. He wrestled himself into standing up. His whole body felt sore as his feet carried him to the tombs. The giant pyres were lit at the platforms of several monumental statues. He often wondered who cared for the dead Sith. They might not have been forgotten, but they sure were cursed by half the Galaxy.

He walked around the Great Sith temple, the colossus from another time; another life. The sarcophagi all but harvested sand and dust now. Kylo Ren forgot how hollow the ceilings were, how frighteningly even the smallest echo boomed. If he did pay attention, he would have heard breath of another.

"I felt your pain. I came to talk to you."

He believed it to be a trick, a mirage of his warped senses when Rey emerged from the shadows. Their connection led her here without Kylo ever calling for it.

"Rey," his whispers reverberated. His eyes glided over her body dressed in white billowy robe which revealed her smooth shoulders. The shadows outlined her collarbones and every curve of her neck. He didn't believe she was really there. She was bathed in light even in the darkness.

"I woke up in so much pain, I wanted to cry. I felt for someone – I felt pity? Then I realized I was in my bed on our ship, and it wasn't a dream. So," she bit her lip. "Maybe those weren't my emotions. I remembered how you found me and…"

"You came to me." He brushed her cheek with his knuckle. She leaned into his touch. Kylo held back with all his might. She considered his emotions and came to him. _She chose him again._ He didn't want to feel so strongly about her, but he couldn't help it. She invoked that heavenly melody of the Force which he craved more and more.

His fingers traced her lower lip. She opened her lips, just barely to taste him, planting a hot kiss at the tip of his thumb. His heavy breathing ignited need in her navel. She imagined his naked body, contorted under her, moaning in pleasure.

She shared that vision with him, deliberately offering anything he wanted to take. He withdrew his thumb and let it skim down her neck, to the collarbone and even further below, all while never taking his gaze from her eyes. She wouldn't let him stall any longer; this time, she would possess him. With one swift motion, she unfastened her robes. They slid to the sand covered the floor.

Ren's eyes fell lower and lower. "I don't want you to do this because you think I need a distraction." He fought to keep his voice steady. He wanted nothing more than to ravage her body, but he held back – just a while longer, till he convinced himself he actually could.

Rey clashed into him, grabbing his cock through the coarse fabric of his mantle. He was already hard and ready for her. If he had any reserve, it was in his head, not his body.

"Who says I'm doing it for you?" she panted.

Kylo kissed her hungrily, lifting her from the floor. His hands supported her firm ass as she worked on his trousers. He slammed her to the nearest wall. She enveloped her legs around him, kicking his pants down with her bare heels. He was glued to her lips and she tasted divine, like fresh soap and jasmine. He ground against her clit. When she felt the hair on his hilt brushing her pelvis, she threw her head back and purred into his ear.

"I need you just as much as you need me. I don't want to think about anything but us, now. I want this. I want _you_."

She would have preferred if he took off his robes, just to feel more of his skin, but she so desperately needed him. She felt blood flowing through her veins in one hot stream. His cock throbbed with painful anticipation of that first thrust. He kissed and licked every inch of her neck and her chest, before he started working on her nipples.

"Please," she moaned into his hair. When she didn't feel the sensation she was so eager for, Rey opened her eyes and saw him smirking. He had to strain his muscles to not fuck her senseless right there.

"Beg for it," he rasped.

Rey's mouth hung open. He was so painfully ready he barely croaked, and yet he decided to dictate the terms. She felt him positioned at her entrance; they were so close that his pupils dilated and the heat flushed his pale cheekbones.

"What?" Her hazed thoughts processed his masculine smell, his hot breath, the pressure of his erection on her navel, but not that one word.

 _Beg?_

Rey unclasped her legs. She jumped down shoving him abruptly. He blinked in surprise, when she repeated the brass movement. It wasn't a playful tug. She really fought him, like a primordial goddess of wrath, till he lost balance. When she pushed him a third time, he found himself on the stone floor. She stripped him of his robe, which he nearly tore off to finally get his release.

"You beg for it, Ren." The way she said his name turned him into vicious predator. She grabbed his length and he sat up in eager expectation of feeling her body. She stroked him twice, and then, she shuffled back with a determined look to make him pay for toying with her.

Rey parted her legs in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Kylo fought to focus his gaze anywhere but her pink, glistening flesh. He reddened, feeling like a naughty boy looking at something forbidden, something he needed right now. She was touching herself in front of him, not just as a form of teasing, but as a punishment. She worked her swollen pleasure spot and it brought her bliss he had denied; she writhed and moaned as he finger worked what should have been his. Her toned abdomen muscles contracted with her every movement; which he found incredibly sensual.

Ren squirmed and let out an instinctive guttural sigh.

He was crawling towards her, prostrated on his knees, when she suddenly raised her leg. Her bare heel dug deep into his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Rey spread her folds with one finger and sighed, while feverish Kylo waited on all four, like a hungry panther stalking his prey.

"Let me," he moaned. "Just let me…" Ren's mouth parched as he fought the urge to grab his cock and finish himself off in three quick strokes. He would have been happy just gazing at her, but that was before he actually felt her. Her every rub, every circle reminded him of how tight she felt last time, how divine was that painful bliss of coming inside her.

"I told you to beg for it," Rey panted," you can start right now." Her lifted leg was still resting on his shoulder, halting any kind of movement.

It was a game of how much pain they could endure to get to the pleasure. Nobody wanted to give up first.

He would _not_ give her the satisfaction. He kept looking in her eyes instead of her body, but he couldn't block the slapping sounds of her wet flesh; or the drops of sweat trailing down her hard nipples. He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath.

He nearly lost all control and charged at her, instead, he gently grabbed her foot and kissed her ankle, spreading her legs more. She threw her head back, as her thigh muscles trembled. Then, he continued up her smooth calf. Rey was too lost in her waves of pleasure to fight back. He was licking the inside of her thigh, till he got dangerously close to that finger which she worked so hard. Rey grabbed his hair, expecting the blazing hot trail of his kisses to continue, aching to feel his tongue on her burning slit.

Suddenly, in an unexpected motion, he flipped her over and whispered to her ear from behind. "Is this what you want, huh?" He put his arm across her chest, while he adjusted himself. "You love teasing me, don't you?"

He took her from behind, breathing out a deep moan. She clenched her inner muscles as he plunged inside her, letting him slide at her whim and he loved it. He was kneeling, hunched over her and grunting in her ear. "Mine, you're mine."

He pushed her forward, his hands grabbed her hips as she landed on all four, taking what he gave her. They were breathless, nameless, a male and female at that point, just two animals in the throes of passion, expressing their pleasure in unintelligible screams. Rey's arms trembled under his weight, Kylo sensed it and with his one strong pull, he embraced her torso and hoisted her back up.

He was carrying the weight of both frenzied bodies, buckled against each other. Their minds left them a long time ago. Rey hung onto that strong arm, knowing no matter how far she would fall, he would be there to catch her. She leaned her back against him, as he was kissing her earlobe, her jaw, her neck, and she responded with deep cries which hitched in her lungs, only to be released when he slammed deeper.

"So tight," he closed his eyes and threw back his head, exposing his Adam's apple. Rey got lost in the jolts of pleasure which shot through her every neuron. He withdrew almost completely and pushed back in; so that each thrust felt as good as first. Her indescribable bliss intensified when he touched her nub of nerves, she moaned and ground her ass against his pelvis. "Keep going, don't stop, Ben."

"Damn it, fuck, Rey, I'm not gonna last very long like that," he warned her hoarsely, ramming into her, harder and harder. He was secretly glad he was behind her. If he had been looking into her eyes, he would have come already, not delivering her pleasure first. Nothing threw him into frenzy more than seeing her under him.

She craned her head, intertwined her hand with his and put them on her fevered neck. Kylo was gazing down into her hooded eyes, their slick bodies writhed against each other on the cold, stone floor, which now felt like a volcanic ground.

He was bringing her there, so close that he had to tighten his grip on her torso to control her savage movements. Rey's motions stopped abruptly, she let out a pained cry, arching like a bow mid air which caused him to be buried deeper than before. He couldn't move, her climax seized him with such intensity. Two thrusts later, he spilled himself into her with one loud grunt. Rey felt the heat spread in her womb and his heartbeat between her legs as he came, reliving his pleasure as if it were her own.

He didn't let her fall on the floor; rather he held her back close to his heaving chest. He bowed to reach her and kissed her, still serving as her wall; her shield which brought her to the verge of sweet agony.

Lovers separated, both lying on their sides, looking at each other.

"Did we just fuck or fight?" Rey panted.

"Is there a difference, when it comes to us?" He asked, equally short of breath. "I never knew you had _that_ in you," he kissed her lips gingerly, looking at her with those eyes; those which made her center of his universe. She had to close the distance and kiss the tip of his nose, only as an excuse not to feel his intense stare. He mesmerized her with one look; he carried her to finish when she was too lost in ecstasy to get there on her own. She gently combed his hair and let her hand rest on his cheek. His pale skin contrasted with her tan; his muscles complemented her soft curves. They simply fit. Kylo watched red maps on her smooth skin disappear, until her freckles stood out again.

They didn't have the luxury of sleep this time. They rested next to each other till their bodies dried of sweat. He locked her in a tight embrace and she was kissing his neck and jaw, anywhere her shorter frame could reach. Their hearts adjusted to a normal beating pattern after a good while.

"You know you reek of sex," he taunted when he held her robe for her. He hated the idea of Rey going back to the ship with other men. What if there were dozens of rebels sleeping where she did? "We can feel these things, you know."

"Are you jealous? It's not like I go to another orgy. I'll take a shower first thing, if it makes you feel better." Rey bit her lip playfully. She didn't plan to tell him that all those 'other men' were just two of her closest friends, currently obsessing over small navicomputer disc. Despite their intimacy, she wouldn't divulge sensitive information to him, ever.

Kylo smoothed the last fold of his robes into one straight line. "Thank you. " He tucked a strand of her unbound hair behind her ear.

"It was my pleasure, literally," She smiled, scrunching her button nose.

"No – you don't understand. I… I really needed you, not only like that, although _that_ was something." He locked his fingers behind her back.

Rey sobered up when she saw how serious his expression was. "You don't ever have to be alone, Ben. I know how it feels. I swear – I will always be there when you need me."

This was her greatest confession; not those three words people whisper to each other so wantonly. She was willing to bind herself to him, to join their fates and make one from two beating hearts.

"I… "

"You don't have to say it," Rey whispered quickly. "You don't have to say anything." That unconfirmed 'nothing' was better than the insecurity which she fought daily when it came to him.

His intense stare silenced her.

He caught her hands in his. "Would you be willing to leave the Resistance?"

"What?" Her eyes widened. Where did that come from? "I… not unless they still have something to fight for. The Resistance is needed, we have to fight for those who can't."

His eyes dropped, only to shot up again in an instance. "Yes, but would you be willing to leave if _I_ asked you to? If we didn't have to fight for the Order and the rebels, would you go with me?"

"Would you?" Rey tightened her grip on his hands.

"The window of opportunity for me is very small. I'm bound, I'm watched. Don't do anything rash. I might have a way to leave it all behind. You just have to trust me, even though I know it will most likely kill you." He knew her better than anyone, at that point. "You must."

"Are you giving up on power for me?"

"I'm giving up on struggle for it. I know I'm close to surpass even Snoke in his power. He taught me something on Rakata; perhaps he wouldn't have, if he knew how much strength it gave me. No one can harm me. No one would dare harming you." He pulled her closer. "You just promise me – promise, that you won't do anything on Korriban, not now. Stall the rebels. It would attract attention, put us under spotlight. I need time," he whispered into her hair. "All _we_ need is time."

He kissed her forehead before she got a chance to answer. Rey closed her eyes, indulging in the soft pressure of his lips. This time, she watched him leave the temple. This time, she wanted to trust his words and lie to her friends. This time, she was willing to risk it all.

* * *

 **A/N 2 things I have to say. First, It drained me when I finished writing first part. To write a child before execution, that isn't one of the best experiences, but I hoped to convey also the awful life in slavery through her eyes. Second, the scene btw Kylo and Rey was a huge metaphor of their future, nothing was deliberate; so if you paid attention, you can probably guess where I'm going with them. Anyway, I've aged a year while writing this chap, please comment, review, anything.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

* * *

Each clink of metal made Rey gnash her teeth. Poe Dameron was deconstructing the navicomputer, only to put it back together for a hundredth time.

He treated every wire and screw like a holy relic. He studied each part with the dexterity of a skilled droid; not a human. Perhaps this distraction allowed her to sneak in unnoticed last night from her meeting with Ren. Rey was sitting in the corner with one knee tugged under her chin, wearing white tank top and white knee-length pants. Her hair was swept to one side, the one which faced towards her friend.

She feared that if he looked at her, he would see her plotting right away. Maybe she could hide her thoughts behind the chestnut curtain. She was thinking of how much she wanted their mission to succeed; and at the same time, she dreaded nothing more. She wouldn't mind to save the slaves and blow up Korriban – if only Kylo Ren wasn't on it. If she had the guarantee he would flee on his shuttle, somewhere far to the outer rim; she would be the first to clean her blaster.

Now, the uncertainty paralyzed her.

"This is it," Poe shoved a green transparent foil away. "I can get to the secondary circuit, but every time I try to configure the motherboard to the default setting, it backfires. I can't get there, I just can't." He sighed.

Then, he waved his palm in front of Rey's eyes. "Hello, are you listening?"

"Sorry," his question pulled her out of her daydream. "Yes, of course." She said in a voice too enthusiastic for her.

"What was I talking about?"

She bit her lip. "Hmmm… motherload?"

Poe got up and fetched them both two cups of hot broth. The Resistance should really start investing in getting some real food into the ships. Rey endured the constant hunger and lack of sleep better than any of them, being used to these conditions her whole life.

"You know, when I was still in training, I would put off my final test so long I actually passed with the class below me. I was still the best," he flashed a bright smile," but I couldn't do it with my own class."

"Why not?" She sipped the hot liquid.

"Because each time I thought how difficult the exams are, and how well I've been doing up to that point, I got nervous. I panicked. I felt like I can't succeed in everything; that perhaps I had the skill, but I feared to actually use it. I nailed the test, but oh boy, the dashboard almost short-circuited under my sweaty hands."

Rey spun her mug around, praying this odd monologue had something to do with her temper, not the late night sneak out. "Uhm… thanks, Poe for subtly letting me know I should practice my Jedi skills more. You're lucky you're so smooth, otherwise I might get offended." She pretended to wipe imaginary tears.

He threw his hands in the air. "All right, all right. I didn't mean to lecture you, and no - it's not about that. But I can't pretend not to see that something's going on with you. You're buried in your own head half the time, with a look of utter misery. And when you're not, you're angry or thrown into a situation where you have to fight for your life. If I had to bet my credits on anything, I'd guess _someone_ is responsible for that."

Poe raised his eyebrow and nodded towards their only spare cabin; currently occupied by sleeping Finn.

Rey didn't know whether to laugh or trick him to get him off her chest. "No," she decided to tell the truth. "That's not it. We're good friends - best friends, actually. You and Finn are like the brothers I never had; and the best ones I could ever wish for."

Poe covered Rey's hand with his own. It felt warm and comforting. Maybe for a moment she could pretend to share her burdens with someone else. It was so different from Ren's touch, which burnt. She loved that fire, even if it was brief and intense.

"I got it," Finn hopped in the main room on one foot. He came with bulging eyes and pillow imprint on one side of his face. Rey almost burst laughing; he even had one half-tugged sock hanging from his belt.

"I got it," he walked on strings. "I had a dream."

"Not that crazy one with Phasma and capacitor rods again…" Poe clutched his heaving stomach.

"Yeah, that one too. But first, I dreamed I was still in the Academy and we had to decrypt a code…nevermind, you won't get it. Just give me a pen, quickly!" he wiggled his fingers.

Rey passed him a stylus and a flat screen. Finn scribbled like a madman for good ten minutes. Then, he handed the screen to Poe. Rey didn't understand what he solved, but even BeeBee rolled the head around its globular body.

"BeeBee, come here." Poe enclosed the screen towards a bright blue beam. The droid scanned one page after another. "Send it to the Resistance base, quickly. Finn cracked it. We need a tractor beam to laser off the last two memory slots. If we leave the default one intact, the disc should reboot and pre-set the original set of coordinates, and then hop – we're in."

"In – as in…" Rey asked with bated breath.

"As in we can hijack their main system with that default blueprint and order their computers to lower the planetary shields. They won't even know! Perhaps, if we're lucky we can hack into the individual ships they operate under that system. It's a game changer for us; and we're talking hours here."

The arid afternoon passed in a very strained atmosphere. Poe snapped at anyone who would distract him from his job; that being squatting next to BeeBee and waiting for the reply from the Resistance. Finn drank his fifth cup of strong coffee and pranced around the ship. Rey was glad when the night fell and they had to fly up to hide in the asteroid belt. She still couldn't believe that the First Order didn't figure out their pattern and picked their frequency yet.

"Maybe _he_ had something to do with it." She sighed inwardly. Rey desperately wanted to believe that Kylo was a dark horse in disguise, secretly on her side, even if he had insisted he wouldn't help her. "Stop fooling yourself," she ordered her mind. She had been doing just that for fifteen years on Jakku.

"When did you know your parents abandoned you for good?" Luke Skywalker asked her back on Ach-To; when she alluded to the topic hoping to get some information from him.

"On the day my rope snapped and I fell from the generator room in the junk freighter. I grazed my knees and sprained my wrist. I have worked for Plutt maybe two, three years, and a child in me couldn't comprehend how come no one cared that I got hurt. That's when I knew no one was coming back."

Rey knew, but she found her days more bearable living in a lie than facing the truth. Now, she started rolling in the web of hopes, ifs, and maybes in regards to Kylo Ren.

He ordered her not to do anything – but did he mean it? Perhaps he just toyed with her head to defeat the Resistance. He told her he would leave with her – but would he? She immediately saw his crooked teeth curved in a vicious grin, as he fastened handcuffs over her bleeding wrists. She cared for him so deeply and so genuinely, that perhaps she missed something as obvious as his true allegiance. Her caustic thoughts were interrupted by a transmission.

"Master," Rey crouched next to a hologram of Luke Skywalker played by BeeBee.

"Rey, it's good to see you. Are you well?"

Rey's shoulders dropped. The first thing he asked was about her, even if they balanced on the brink of greatest chance Resistance got in the last decade. She smiled. "I'm fine, Master. I still practice daily," her cheeks reddened. It wasn't entirely a lie – she did test her mind trick and Force push on Hux.

"Skywalker," Finn not-so gently pushed his body into frame. "Did you get our plans? Do you understand what we need to do?"

"Yes, I did. R2-D2 showed me everything. I'm not with General Organa at the moment. We need to regroup at the place where you first found it, Rey and then follow you."

Rey nodded in understanding. Luke planned to go back on Takodana, the place where she first found his lightsaber and rejoin Leia's faction.

Finn shook his head. "No, we need to get the memory slots lasered off before you arrive; we need to hack into their system and lower the planetary shields for your fleet. We asked you to fetch us a new tractor beam. We've had ours, but we…eh…uhm…"

He glanced at Rey.

She would have rather had the earth open and swallow her on the spot. Her outburst damaged the console of this old ship and with it, the tractor beam.

"We've encountered a bit of an incident which disabled our tractor beam." Finn said a bit loudly. If Luke had been there, he would have sensed the white lie.

"I am sorry, but I won't risk it. One old man and a droid won't be of much help to you. I need to consult Leia, first. Besides, perhaps other will be inclined to join us," Luke said with a hint of mystery.

"Don't worry, Master," Rey shoved Finn for a change,"we'll manage. Just keep in touch and don't forget to be careful. Please, give my greetings to General Organa. Tell her…" Rey stopped, debating whether to go there or not. Then, she took a deep breath. "Tell her that the orbit of Korriban is full of wonders. Just last night, I spotted an aphelion. It only lasts as long as the moon resists the gravity."

Luke Skywalker tilted his head. The power of her message made all the difference in the world. He couldn't feel what she felt, but with that reference to an astronomical event, so common in their Galaxy, she revealed more than he could hope for.

"May the Force be with you, Rey." The words echoed even when the hologram faded.

Aphelion, an event in which space object floats in the furthest point from the sun characterized Ren's turmoil well. She was the sun which would pull him to the light. She didn't presume that role; but the Force orchestrated their destiny long before they were born. It intertwined, crashed and burnt them until they finally embraced each other. Rey fought it. Ren did too, but once they realized that the fire cannot kill them, the Sun eclipsed the Moon in celestial harmony.

Rey let the words addressed to the Jedi Master linger in her mind. Before she became a Force User, she was just a simple scavenger. Some parts of her forever would be.

"I can salvage new tractor beam from the Order ships. I've dismantled one about a hundred times on Jakku. I recognized it on a star destroyer, or in a cargo ship, it doesn't matter. If I can get it, Poe can fix he navicomputer disc in time."

"And we'll be able lower the shields for the Resistance fleet. " Finn noted.

The cabin fell into silence. Poe looked at Rey who looked at Finn. Little BeeBee kept gyrating its head form one pensive face to another. Once the plane became more tangible, their confidence plummeted.

"This is kind of a big deal," Poe sighed. "Are we sure we're ready for this?"

Rey wasn't, but for different reasons than theirs.

"We're halfway there, I guess. But you're not going alone, Rey." Finn crossed his arms adamant.

"No Finn, you're right. I need someone to attract the attention of stormtroopers, or perhaps someone who drops a wrench right in the middle of a steel ship. I need someone like that to accompany me." She shook her head.

They still didn't get it. She thrived alone, in the conditions like these. She possessed the skill, the stealth and patience to scrape and salvage in complete silence. When they saw that defying her was futile, they armed her with a blaster and a three dimensional map of one sector of Korriban.

Poe put his hands tenderly on her shoulders. "We'll drop you off with a speeder. Don't forget – we have to leave at dusk and go hide into that bloody asteroid again. So, don't be late or we're most likely done. If you won't find it, don't panic, just wait and come back to us. No one expects you to succeed on your first try."

Once the ship dropped her off and disappeared again, Rey threw the cape of her brown Jedi cloak over her head, straddled the airspeeder and revved into the desert of Korriban. She had noticed a large fenced area in the south of the garrison when she was hiding before the stormtroopers. It contained several defunct ships the Order had no use for. The slaves would surely scrape something from it, just like she utilized an AT&T walker as a shelter on Jakku. They took what they needed. It wasn't much, but literally anything was better than empty hands with which they left the mines. Some components they used in barter trade, others made their lives a little easier.

Rey walked the last mile, to steer attention from her speeder. She jumped over the barbed fence, tearing her cloak in the process.

"Damn it," she swore when burning sensation spread across her palm. The cut wasn't deep, so she moved on.

Rey sneaked first into two reconnaissance vessels, called ' _ferret'_ for their sleek and compact design. She found the beams, usually connected to the main dashboard, missing. Someone had ripped them off with brute force. Then, she crawled on her hands and knees to the other ship; a massive gray frigate. Its enormous construction offered more privacy for Rey's pursuit, but at the same time, caused more noise. Even slightest brush past its long hull echoed to the night.

Rey tied yarn rope around her waist and ankle and proceeded to crawl upwards. The frigate reclined in a steep angle. Her hands were sliding down, cutting on the sharp edges, leaving behind a faint blood smear. Her heart was beating so fast that she was certain she'd leave a pint of blood on the surface of this ship. She paid no heed to the growing pain. After few more feet, she felt a hatchet under her.

Tentatively, calculating each step, she slid down the lid. The freefall lasted less than five seconds and she swung her body to land on a high platform. The bridge rattled under her weight, so frail and rusty the ship was. Rey circled her stretched arms in the air to regain balance.

She let out a long, deep sigh. The silence felt deafening. Only her breathing resembled any form of life down here.

"All right. You need the tractor beam and this is a _Vengeance_ class frigate equipped with mass drivers." Rey recited to herself. "They need plasma driven rounds form electrothermal cannon, so… "She paced the short length of the bridge.

Then, she growled. "Think, for Pete's sake, think!" She dug her palms into her forehead, unwittingly smearing some blood. She couldn't take a proper breath, no matter how hard she tried. She knew all parts of the ship by name, she memorized all there was to it long ago, and yet, it didn't come to her.

Her hands fell to her sides.

Was she subconsciously trying to sabotage their mission? What if she _didn't_ want to find the tractor beam?

"No," she fell to her knees. _He_ didn't have anything to do with it. Kylo chose his side. He knew what role both of them played. The value of his life didn't outweigh the value of thousand of slaves. In her mind, she could give a future to all these people, the future she had been given by Finn and Luke. She couldn't be so selfish, so stupid to throw it all away. She would follow Ren anywhere but where he headed.

Her head shot up.

Laugh – soft, innocent laugh rose to the high ceilings of the ship. If she could put the sound of twinkling stars into words, this would be it. The string of pearls tore and the gems tinkled on the ground below her. Rey saw a flicker of white when she leaned over the railing.

"It can't be," she whispered. Her eyes widened at the sight of a small child squatting in the middle of the floor. Rey tugged the rope and started descending down, as quietly as possible. She jumped right into a somersault and landed behind the little girl like a cat.

Girl's head spun around. They were both just sizing each other up for a minute. Rey crouched instinctively, as to not intimidate her. She felt something in this child, something connecting them on a fundamental level. She wasn't afraid of Rey.

"Have you come to play too?" The girl stacked another small stone on the pile of rocks.

Rey blinked. "Do you come here often?"

"Yes. "The girl answered matter-of-factly. Presence of a complete stranger didn't worry her one bit. " _I wonder if she can hear me. Maybe she has voices, too."_

Rey drew her hand across her mouth. This child was Force sensitive. A stream of emotion hit her like a tidal wave. The girl had dark eyes which conveyed her life's story in one poignant look. Rey saw it all; the mines and the pain, her mother and then…

She jumped to her feet.

The image of Kylo Ren popped into her vision; the darkness among the sea of tattered gray. She witnessed girl's execution and the way he had saved her life. The feet were almost dangling from the noose, only to be swept gently into the breeze like a little bird. She saw Ren's eyes behind the mask. His heart took a mighty beat and decided to spare a life.

Rey's tears mingled with the dried up blood on her face.

"Why are you crying?" The girl abandoned her stones and walked to Rey. "Here, don't be sad," she offered an old rag to her.

Rey couldn't find words. "Thank you," she replied in a nasal voice. "I'm Rey. What's your name?"

"My name is Sirah." The girl shuffled her feet. She wasn't used to normal, human interaction. Stormtroopers barked orders and the women in their shelter wept rather than talked. If they did, no one bothered with her much.

"That's a beautiful name, Sirah. What are you doing here? Does anyone know where you are?" Rey crouched again to better look at her. It felt like gazing into a mirror.

Sirah narrowed her eyes. This was the first time she questioned whether to tell the truth or not. "I don't know if they know. I come here to play with my pebbles. Old mother forbade me to do in the shelter. Here, no one can see me. So, I come sometimes, but only when the moon is big. It has to be big, otherwise I can't find my way back in the streets." She explained with childlike innocence.

Rey suddenly felt fiercely protective of this small, sad creature. Now, she understood how mothers must feel about their children. She wanted to take her, to smuggle her out of Korriban. Yes, she would save all the slaves, but she wanted to take Sirah first. Strangely, she didn't remind Rey of herself – despite all the parallels. Rey always knew that life was dangerous and short, if she didn't fight back. She was aware of the Plutt and his scoundrels; she knew right away what they did to little girls who didn't know how to defend themselves. That's why she survived Jakku.

Sirah was different.

In spite of all that had happened to her, she saw the world through a different lens. Rey's world was stale bread and staff and the scratches on the wall. Sirah's included pebbles and sand castles; hope and dreams.

Rey wiped her tears with her sleeve. She knew she couldn't take her. She knew that, but even her heart couldn't contain so much sorrow. Her struggle with what was wrong and right came to an end, right there. She wrestled with insane notion of escape with Kylo, she spent last day and night convincing her conscience she was allowed. But now, she couldn't think of her and his happiness, if it meant sacrificing these people.

She wanted to - but she couldn't.

"Listen to me, Sirah." Rey gently shook her tiny shoulders. "I will come back for you, very soon. Do you understand? Big ships will come and people will fight on the ground. It will become very dangerous down in the garrison. When you wake up one day and you'll hear my voice in your head, you run to the barracks."

Sirah's gaze was too deep, too understanding for a child of her age.

"Run to the barracks and hide. Don't go out, don't go looking at the fireworks and stormtroopers. I want you to promise me." Rey pleaded with urgency in her voice.

"Not even to get my rocks back?" Sirah bargained.

"No, not even for that. I will get you new pebbles when we leave here. I will get you toys and tiny planets to play with. And dolls; you'll get many dolls. Or toy blasters, whichever you like more. Do you promise?"

Sirah nodded.

She didn't get the importance of those words, but she sensed Rey truly cared. Once gained, their trust went beyond the realm of mere words. One orphan understood the other; and that bond could save them both.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

* * *

Dark figure was standing on the edge of a sharp precipice. The winds were tossing his robes in the air. They carried a promise of rain, so foreign to that region. The storm was coming. He glanced under his leather glove at the com device. Something must have gotten hold of her, when she forfeited the virtue of her punctuality.

High mountain ridge rose from that plateau. Thin stalagmites encircled the edge of the valley; orange stone fell down in lean icicle -like columns, which shielded that spot from prying eyes. The steps were getting quicker, the breathing more laborious. He closed his eyes and let himself be carried away by that sound. She was running, now.

He spun to catch her in his arms. She hesitated. He pulled down her hood, but didn't find her face. Instead, she wore a mask of panic. Kylo swiftly dropped his own disguise and studied her.

"I have to talk to you." Rey spoke first.

Ren raised his hand. "Let me." He stepped back and she noticed an unknown droid sliding on its two arms. It was an R2 unit, dusty and scratched; rotating around its own axis. "Inside this droid are plans." He said.

"Plans…" Rey repeated.

"…maps of the wild space. It's a crude copy of uncharted territory of the Galaxy, even beyond the Rishi Maze. Few stepped into those regions, and even fewer came back. This," he pointed at the droid," contains the coordinates to safely maneuver across the Intergalactic void."

Rey still didn't understand. "The void is just that – a void. There are giant gas dwarves and superclusters filled with black holes. And then, nothingness. Even if any ship from our world could cross, the hyperspace fails the moment the gravity shifts." She didn't have time to indulge his pointless geography lessons, when she needed to deliver her news.

Kylo didn't grow frustrated only because she still didn't grasp the importance of those maps. "Rey, Snoke's race came from on one of those star systems beyond the void. He taught me more about it. They don't know the Force under that name. From what he said, they don't know it at all. Perhaps they suspect there is more to that binding fullness, but they are powerless to use it. "

Rey played with the cuffs of her sleeves. She knew where he headed.

"Imagine one, just one strong with the Force like us ever going there." His eyes gazed in the distance. "The cycle would be complete. Just as the Dark Jedi first stumbled upon Sith race, so could we become new masters of that distant galaxy."

His breathing got shallow and his fists clenched. He let his imagination run rampant and she sensed his emotions through the Force. "I'm not going to throw an entire galaxy into terror. I don't want to enslave free people."

"Not enslave, _rule_. What is the Order and their thirteen colonies? What is an entire sector of the galaxy that Palpatine subdued in the past? It pales in comparison of what we could become together. I know you – you are against violence and bloodshed. What if I could guarantee you not a single drop of blood spilt?" His voice was so soft, so deep. He sounded so genuine in his intentions.

The droid projected a large hologram of universe. Rey blinked, adjusting to the blue glow. They were flying through the dense clusters of stars and galactic mist. They bludgeoned through those regions, until they passed one of four galactic arms. Then, the whole image zoomed out, leaving the Galaxy as small as rubber ball. The darkness stretched infinitely; until the point of no return. Rey felt an invisible breeze dishevel her hair. She forgot to take a new breath and leaned closer.

After the darkness came the light.

Intense explosion crossed that screen; so vivid Rey stepped back. Hundreds of millions of stars rained from the sky, luminous and blinding in their radiance. She witnessed the moment of creation beyond the realm of their world.

Kylo was standing behind her; supporting her back with his broad chest. She barely reached his shoulders, so he tilted down. "You see?" he whispered. "That place is real and it's made for us. Nobody knows it exists, except me. Even if they would be looking for us, they won't have any way to track us there. Beyond our galaxy, they're deaf and blind. I know how to cross."

He turned Rey's slender body and cupped her cheek.

"You would never see your family again. You would leave the Order." She whispered, unsure whether he was more seduced by the prospect of future with her, or the power it offered.

Ren nodded, still gently stroking her face. They heard their melody of the Force a long time ago, before it was the only way to connect one to the other. It sang now. Long, mournful tones diluted the air, as if they listened to an elegy. He felt Rey's guilt washing away his excitement. She didn't share his desires.

His hand dropped. He fought not to shower her with questions. Didn't she see? He had figured it out – they had a way out.

"Ben," Rey didn't dare look him in the eyes. "I have to tell you something."

Kylo became a boy who dedicated his entire childhood to prepare a present for the girl he cared about; and the girl rejected it.

"You don't trust me." He stated quietly. "Is that what you want to say?"

"No," she said quickly. "I didn't trust you fully but I do now. I met the little girl you saved; the slave."

"So?" he tried to silence his embarrassment. She wasn't supposed to find out. "It means nothing."

"It means everything." She touched his arm."That was the real you; that was the light and good in you. That was the man I love."

Kylo felt absolutely besotted with her, in that moment of the confession he so longed for. He laced his fingers with hers and brought them to his lips. He kissed her pulse point. He wanted to cherish her entire body, right there.

Rey leaned closer and joined his parted lips. She was on the verge of tears, because she knew their peace was destined to collapse. She savored each brush against his flesh; as he entered her mouth with his tongue. They weren't controlled by passion, just like many times before. What was left, when the fever burned out? Deep love which bound their souls. He languidly caressed her tongue with his; prolonging their connection. She moaned into the kiss. He was kissing her enamored with the very idea of her. He imagined life where he wouldn't have to save these moments; the life where he wouldn't have to let go. He was offering it to her right now; all she had to do was take it.

Rey rested her forehead against his when she broke the kiss. She still felt him; and didn't dare to breathe to longer enjoy his taste in her mouth. She came to her senses only when his arms tensed.

"Can you feel it?"

She was about to ask what, when the air crackled with electricity. It was humid and different from the way it used to smell. She spent enough time on Korriban to recognize the clean, crisp nightly breeze; and sultry fan during the day. This felt different; this felt dangerous.

The lightning cut the horizon like a crack of a whip. Rey shivered and he instinctively tightened his hold of her.

"Something is not right." He kept looking around."The storm's coming, but that's impossible here. There are thousands years old shields which prevent it. They ground the atmospheric pressure and…"

Rey kept shivering, but this time, it had nothing to do with the storm. He bowed down to look her in the eyes. "Rey?"

She bit her lip.

He pushed her away. "What did you do?"

She still didn't find the courage to return his stare. He lifted her chin; his contact wasn't brusque, but it lost its sensitive touch. "Look at me. You know what is happening. Do you have anything to do with this?"

His voice sounded pained and frenzied at the same time. He rejected the notion she had betrayed him. Yes, she would cut the artery of the First Order and let them bleed, but him -never. She simply wouldn't. She would have at least warned him, right? He begged her not to do anything in the Sith temple. He begged her.

The first drops landed on the scorched earth.

Kylo gazed up.

A medium sized ship bolted across the sky, as an arrow shot from the bow. "That's not one of ours." He frowned. It was all right; it was good. She somehow smuggled one of the rebel barges into the atmosphere. He could keep that a secret.

Rey stood still.

She knew exactly how Sirah felt walking to the gallows. Another ship flew above their heads. Kylo stepped back, craning his head to comprehend. The rain was falling in torrents now; soaking them both wet. Rey's drenched hair fell across her eyes, but she didn't bother to slick them back. She didn't want to see the moment he realized.

Massive fleet suddenly appeared out of nowhere, like a sea creature emerging from the deep ocean chasm. The Resistance convoy crossed the sky, roaring and setting into combat formation. Star Destroyers and other frigates sailed above their heads. Their outlines were black against the large full moon.

"You betrayed me," he whispered. The storm thundered, but she heard him loud and clear. "I told you not to do this," he fought to catch a breath. "I told you…I begged you!"

He pushed into her and Rey jumped back.

"It's not like that! I didn't want to do that… it was an accident. They found the disc you gave me and figured out how we could lower the shields. I didn't plan for this to happen, Ben!" Rey cried out.

She felt sharp knife stabbing her in her chest. She wasn't apologizing for the attack – but he had to know she didn't go against him, that it wasn't meant to hurt _him_. The rain prickled like myriad cold shards on her skin. She forced herself to imagine that line she drew; that barrier she vowed to never cross.

It crumbled.

Kylo's restraint was dying like the bond they had forged. His fists were twitching; his wet hair framed his ghostly face. "I told you not to do anything, because I still need the Order's star destroyers. There are routes there which we need to cross the Void…" he stopped.

It was so pointless to talk about that now, when she surely wouldn't come with him. Snoke had told him in the Sith temple; Snoke had warned him this would happen. _"If she had to choose between her rebel friends and your passion, it is clear which path she would thread. She would kill you in a heartbeat."_

Ren shook his head; the water was dripping from his hair. "You planned this all along. Rebels just happened to outsmart you, right." He snorted. "I'm sure they had to twist your arm to agree to this. You thought if you showed me mercy and compassion, I will follow you like a dog. You…" his head dropped into his palms. "You would bring me down at all cost."

"And you wouldn't?" Rey screamed. "You have to believe me when I tell you I _didn't_ plan this. What did you think we were doing here? I told you the truth!" Rey leaned closer to him. "I admitted it when Hux caught me – I wanted to free the slaves."

"I would never go against you."

"Because you've never been in a situation like mine! It must be so simple for you - draw a lightsaber and solve everything. There are people who depend on me, Ben. Even you can't claim to choose me over the Order. I bet you would get rid of me, once I became more of an obstacle than your companion. You would force me anyway, if I said no to your proposal. Don't be a hypocrite and admit it." She was stinging him like a hornet's nest. "Admit it!"

"You are sacred!" He roared, drilling it into her head. "Don't you know that by now? You are the only thing sacred to me."His hoarse voice broke and few words were lost forever. "I would never… I love you! I love you and you betrayed me." He sunk to his knees. The sand turned to mud and his bulky frame splashed when he fell.

She took the one ray of hope dangling in front of him and snuffed it out. He would have died for the opportunity to leave with her, to make her see she could trust him, that she could love him.

Rey knelt alongside him. Her entire body was shaking under convulsions of grief washing over her. She couldn't hold on. If there was a wall strong enough to hold her, it would have been his back.

"Please, listen to me. Let me explain. I don't care about the Jedi, the Resistance… once these people are free, I can… Let's go then. I still want us to be together. We can still leave and… " She tried to reach him.

He yanked his hand away. "We can't. I can't just leave the Order. The only chance I had was when no one was looking. You put us under spotlight now, I'm bound to servitude and this has been my only chance. You can't have it both ways, and you chose them."

She _betrayed_ him.

She claimed to love him, but she still stabbed him in the back; just like Luke Skywalker, just like Han Solo…just like Snoke. Was there truly no one in the entire galaxy dedicated only to him? Was he so far gone, so repulsive to be loved? His heart actually physically ached; his splintered mind relived what he had to endure under Snoke's tutoring. The rejection, the loneliness, the pain… it all came back to him – he could have been free of all that past.

He felt sick.

The stench of mud hit his nose and he hunched over and threw up. He vomited unceremoniously on the drenched ground, until he emptied the contents of his stomach. Then, when only bile was left, he purged himself of that.

Rey knelt beside him, patting his shoulder through long, hard sobs. He let her hold him. The blasts detonated miles away from them. Green and red lasers were crossing the sky as Resistance and First Order engaged in the battle for Korriban. Distant ships spew fire, illuminating their faces. The garrison was blazing; the fires were licking the walls of the metal warehouses and people screamed.

Rey wiped her tears. She had to find Sirah, quickly. She had promised the little girl she would come for her and take her to safety. She imagined how frightened the child must be.

"I have to get to the barracks. The slaves…"

"Fuck the slaves! Why do you have to care about them and not _us_? Don't you see? They're already dead; if not the mines, then those will finish them!" He grabbed her hand and pointed it towards the ships. He transformed his hurt into anger at everything and anything. Her every word just armed him more

Rey drew herself up, but to her horror, she couldn't move. She felt her body locked in a Force push.

"You're not going anywhere."

For the first time, Rey was afraid of him. "Let me go." She said, still calm by some miracle. His judgment might have been clouded, but he wouldn't lay a finger on her. Rey's resolve was vanishing quickly when she really felt his emotions.

He was walking towards her, slowly, relishing in each moment her heart beat in panic. Only now, when she was at the receiving end of his wrath, she truly believed he would kill her. While before she found his tall, muscular body warm and protective, now she felt her bones being crushed under him.

"You chose them. Now, watch them burn." He stretched out his hand and tightened the Force grip in the air.

Wild cry escaped Rey's throat. He flinched. His rage and pain mutated to numbness. Rey moaned again and her face; that perfect, beautiful face twisted in pain. He felt her misery through the Force. Every cell in his body shouted to let her go, but when he was about to obey, he looked at the burning sky. The battle created an inferno in heavens, and she was the cause of it.

Rey's nose started bleeding. Ren's arm quivered - it was the sight of that blood which forced him to drop it. He couldn't spill it, ever.

When he was debating whether to go to her or not, Rey's head shot up. Her eyes were the same blood color as her nose.

She screamed and her arm shot to the air, throwing him to the rock wall without mercy. His back broke several stalagmites and pulverized them into nothing but dust.

"Aaarghh," Ren hollered in pain and spat out saliva mixed with blood. He was still getting back to his feet, when Rey already trudged through the muddy currents.

"How dare you raise your hand against me? Against _me_ …" Her outcry was infused with pain and anger. "You don't care for anything but yourself. How could you do this to us; how could you doubt me?"

"This is your fault!" He cried as he failed to gain balance."You took everything from me, you lied… Run to Skywalker, run to your stupid slaves! Save them all, it's all you're good for!"

She cursed him with her love.

Before he had known that feeling, he never had to suffer the pain of her loss. He wished he never met her… he wished she never loved him. The lightning mixed with colors of the battle created a background spectacle unlike any natural wonder. For a moment, they were both facing each other in silence, but the dark side had been preying on them for so long, that giving in had to be paid in blood.

The Force pressure surged from their arms at the same time; she raised hers and he overpowered it, but not for long.

She was pushing hard, but he gave back just as much. Rey's knees wobbled as she dug her feet to the ground to gain traction. Rain was whipping their faces as their pained bodies fought for control, her head was about to explode and his ribcage nearly shattered. Yet, they kept going, bleeding, broken; two enemies loving each other through the pain.

Kylo twirled his wrist and sent Rey flying across the air in the opposite direction. His leaden feet barely followed. He had her locked in the empty air above the precipice. One flick of his wrist, one small motion and she would plunge to her death.

The gorge below was waiting for her, like a hungry abyss ready to swallow her body. Her soul had already left it – Ren destroyed it. What was he doing? Kylo crawled closer to the edge. She was levitating in the air, panting and crying anxiously. He didn't feel strong enough to maintain his hold too long.

He didn't want to kill her.

Despite all, he couldn't imagine Rey simply _not being_ anymore. She had to exist, if only so he could hate her for a while, and then, love her again. The rain stopped. The air around them changed into abhorrent vacuum.

"No!" she cried as he let her ebb few feet down. He couldn't support the weight any longer, but when he twirled his wrist to direct her to the ground, she didn't move.

He did it again.

She was still hovering in the air like a stringless puppet.

"What are you doing?" Ren panted, desperate to have her safe again. "Don't you dare…" He had to have her safe, only to deal with her later. Yes, that was the reason.

Rey's whole body was shaking to the core. She tapped into the Force and let it carry her without his assistance. The storm sent her outer robes gliding down like a kite. Clad only in her thin white shirt and pants, she looked so frail, so vulnerable, spinning around like a living, breathing rag doll.

"I wish you could feel what I feel right now. There is no bond strong enough for that." Her voice sounded empty. "You broke it all."

"Stop it and come back." Ren moved two fingers. He begged, at this point. Eerie premonition woke him up from his rapture.

"Rey," he called again. He caught a faint drum of her heartbeat and cursed his entire existence. He made the heart he had sworn to keep beating tremble with fear.

"So much for being sacred." Her sad eyes were brimming with tears. "Now, we'll both watch everything burn."

Rey gazed down to the mouth of the beast, as if something caught her attention. Then, she looked him in the eye. He would never forget that look. He should have known, but he didn't. He would never erase it from his memory; it was seared into the deepest corridors of his heart.

She gave him that look, and without a single word, she fell. She neither screamed nor fought. She let herself fall in one silent leap.

It was Ren who cried out first.

Deep, savage noise crept from the back of his throat as he witnessed that fall. He couldn't form thoughts or sentences. He almost lost his mind – he should jump after her! Yes, maybe if he jumped, he would catch her. He didn't jump and he didn't catch her. He didn't know how long he kept staring down to the pit so deep, the bottom never came. Few stones detached from the edge and followed her down.

He fell apart, blinded by tears. His fingers dug deep into the muck. Nothing came out of his mouth. He breathed in, suffocated by the pressure which his lungs refused to release. Silent screams pierced his organs; two of his ribs finally cracked.

It didn't matter that Hux and the Order were looking for him. It didn't matter that the hell Resistance unleashed on them was coming to an end. The Order fought hard in the battle of Korriban. Kylo Ren already lost his. Notion of time and space was lost on him. He didn't dare to guess how long he was lying there. Only when the dirt on his lacerated knuckles dried, he realized.

He didn't hear one heartbeat when she was falling down to the pit. He heard two.

* * *

 **A/N All I can say is - I'm sorry. I had the worst migraine of my life writing this, because their intensity is just so all consuming. Without spoiling - this fic is going to have the ending we all want, I'm not that evil. It's just the journey there is a bitch.**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

* * *

She was ready to fear the fall. If overcome, fear never killed anyone.

What she didn't anticipate was the pain she felt during her descent. The wind was slicing her skin in half. Her stomach dropped and pushed her entrails; her hair kept choking her when she tried to get a scoop of oxygen into her mouth. Rey was kicking her legs like scissors and her arms were nailed to an imaginary cross.

She was looking up, always up towards the battle fireworks. She heard Ren's cry; that raw plea which nearly tore the mountain apart. It evoked a sick sense of satisfaction, to cause him as much pain as he had caused her.

Bereft of sanity, she was falling. The further down she fell, darker it got. That darkness and sharp torrents of air made her fear she was falling into empty space. Maybe the planet shifted, and she was falling into the space void; to freeze with the stars. The ground which would most likely kill her was pulling her down with insane speed. Rey's neck constricted and she struggled to breathe. At this rate, she would suffocate before she smashed to pieces.

She wasn't suicidal. She wouldn't let the fall kill her, no matter how much Ren broke her. She sensed a presence when she hovered in the air. A powerful Force user was standing down, just below the precipice.

"Let go and I will help you, if you need to run from him. The fall won't kill you." He whispered through the Force.

So, she let go.

Rey put all her mental strength into slowing down. She was forcing her body to go against the force of nature, the mighty pull of gravity. Another pair of hands was aiming at her body and directing it safely to the ground. She didn't slide elegantly like an autumn leaf; she collided with the crag walls. Her body was darting through the rock heart of the mountain, until she landed on the hard grovel. Fortunately, she had time to cover her face with her arms before the shards dug into her skin.

"AAAaaaaiinnnn llll ssssssss… uuuuu aaannnn up…."

Rey barely registered the water surface. The water was swishing in her ears; and the pain hit her directly between the eyes.

"Aaain wiiiilll passs…. Caaan youuuu aaand up…"

That bubbling and swishing didn't go away. She tried to swallow, but her jaw seemed to be dislocated, or maybe she lost the ability to talk.

"Pain will pass. Can you stand up?" The water morphed into a raspy voice. It belonged to a man slouched over her body.

Rey came to her senses. Face that was staring at her startled her. He had brown skin, green eyes and tattoos all across it. His horns betrayed his origin – he was from Dathomir.

"Can you move girl?" He growled.

Could she? Rey tried to bend her fingers.

"I don't mean that. I mean can you at least walk? I wouldn't want to be standing here for another hour; stormtroopers have cornered one Resistance battalion and they'll be heading this way, soon, with an army of droids to plug in." He swiveled his head to check their surroundings.

What was a Jedi doing fighting with the resistance on Korriban? In fact, why was he there and not with the troops?

"Stop thinking too loud, it's annoying." He sighed. He scratched his shaven chin and after a while, scooped Rey into his arms. She saw only that chin and the sky which turned from black to dark red. He was carrying her to the unknown. "I'm not a Jedi, by the way."

He wasn't? But the Force…

"Yes, yes. If the Force graced only the Jedi, the Galaxy would surely look a hell lot different. I'm a Force user, not a Jedi. My name is Tanakh and I'm with that fool, Skywalker. We're the liberating party here," he said, speaking Luke's name like acid burnt holes through steel.

He exuded an odor she couldn't quite place. It reminded her of a polisher she used to clean combustion valves on Jakku.

"It's Correlian brandy. You don't think I'd go into a battle sober, do you? Not after what I've been through, girl."

He was walking as if he carried nothing in his arms; his steps were light and fast. Rey channeled the Force. She was thinking about Finn and Poe, sitting together around a game of dejarik. She was memorizing parts of her favorite engines; she was laughing at the dirty joke Chewbacca had to explain in Wookie. She was thinking about all the silly things, all the happy memories she had mustered during past year.

Anything would do, to avoid the dark eyes and burning touch. She forbade her mind picturing his smooth face when he cradled her in his arms. She bit her tongue, despite the pain, because his taste in her mouth still prevailed. She'd rather have tasted blood, than him.

Rey needed the light side of the Force to replenish her strength, not the wretched caricature of love her and Kylo shared. Half the bones in her upper body ached with each step Tanakh took. She nearly cried, when she recalled how Ren healed some of her pain in the temple on Rakata.

No one was coming to her now. She had to heal herself.

Tanakh was privy to some of her emotions. He was not a trained Jedi, but he happened to be very strong with the Force for a member of the Church. He didn't pry intentionally, but what he felt emanating from her stunned him. She was transforming love into hatred in one single journey. Her soul was wailing for that man's touch, even though she crippled her body just to get away from him.

"It's not going to take long now. I'll get you to the Resistance. They'll take care of ya, don't worry, girl." He felt protective of her. She landed like a winter snowflake, all dressed in white. He wouldn't let her melt on this hot, red planet. Their eyes met. Hers were amber with green circles around her irises; Tanakh's shone like emerald gems, even in the night.

"Rey," she whispered aloud. "I'm…Rey." She found her voice, although barely.

"You mind telling me who did this to you, Rey?"

"Nobody did anything to me. I was in a fight and I lost. But I'll get back at…him." Rey gave him a reply of a child vowing to avenge that bully who kicked her sandcastle. Tanakh read between the lines. She obviously didn't like being labeled as a victim; so she insisted on losing fair and square.

"Hmm," he grunted," if you say so. You're lucky I was too drunk to hold a blaster straight and Skywalker sent me with a unit to set up a droid charging station, not far from where you fought."

"Did you…did you see?

"I felt."

It was true; he felt two powerful streams of energy pulsing above the mountain - hers and someone else's. Both were equally strong, dark and infused in the night side of the Force. When he called to her, he felt her resolve to survive, but not by that man's hand.

Who was he?

Why would she risk maiming herself, just to flee from him? That stunt she pulled was risky beyond imagining; but she was so strong with the Force, that he trusted his instincts and offered his help. Well, as much as two shaky hands of a drunk could offer.

Not only her pursed lips and wild will to survive made her a child in his arms. She could have just as easily returned back to the ground on the precipice without her enemy's help. But no – the vengeful spirit in her chose the option which she knew would inflict pain on him. Tanakh bared his teeth to her. He understood her.

"I think you lost no battle, Rey. You hurt him more than he did you."

The sky cleared as the last stars vanished in the sea of blue. Rey heard the screams and detonations; they were muffled at times. She was falling in and out of consciousness. Her body kept shutting down to heal in sleep. When she forced herself to look one last time, she saw two neon tubes on the ceiling, and then, she fell into blackness for the second time in one day.

* * *

The battle was over. Streets were littered with people bleeding, huddled together over pyres to keep them warm. Only occasional cough and distant moan permeated that mournful silence. The Resistance was helping survivors on their feet, and injured on the stretchers. A line formed, where technicians were removing the magnetic field collars from the necks of hundreds of slaves.

People who were once stripped of dignity were slowly getting it back. Walkers had to pass rubble and pieces of stormtrooper uniforms drowned in pools of oil and blood. Even though it didn't rain, lowering of shields thrust Korriban into constant storm. Little children sucked their thumbs in fright of massive lightning bolts and the mothers cooed them into much needed sleep.

The cries and moans intensified as a man clad in dark, torn robes passed by. He sailed through the debris like a ship through the iceberg. His eyes surveyed the sky. He was looking for those ships which brought his doom. Two former imperial Star Destroyers were stationed above the planet, hovering so close to the atmosphere, they shielded the sun. It mattered not, for the lightning and pyres generated sufficient light. The Destroyers were painted in the orange and black - colors of Resistance, instead of typical gray.

"Go away. Leave me alone!" He swatted something invisible in the air. People just nodded, and minded their own business. Many talked to ghosts that day, and so did this man.

Kylo toppled, once he spotted the ships. He sprawled on the ground in all his height and hissed. Bloodied and bruised, he looked no different from other survivors. His young face still puzzled people who didn't see behind the mask. Little boy offered him a hand. Kylo's eyes regarded him with the intensity of a wild animal.

"I told you to leave me alone. You're not real, so go away!"

The boy withdrew and hid behind a woman's skirt. Ren clambered back up, crossing the rubble field.

"Is he one of them? Who is he…just another poor sod…he went mad." People were whispering, averting their eyes.

Ren squinted at an empty spot behind a metal barrel. His lips trembled. "That's it. Get lost. You don't belong here."

The streets started to empty, when people understood they were not safe as long as his gaze could reach them. The movement seemed to aggravate him more, so they shuffled quieter. The silence soothed him, he could hear his own thoughts. He kept walking and stumbling, cursing and threatening empty air.

Then, one of the Star Destroyers revved up its engines. People looked at him, not the ship. Kylo went berserk. He was limping, dragging one foot slightly, but he was rushing towards the ship as fast as he could.

"Stop it." Rey whispered to him. "Don't do that…If you have someone to blame, blame yourself."

Ren's head snapped to his right. Rey's silhouette spoke to him. He saw her through a mist, shimmering like a mirage against sharp sunlight.

"I told you to leave me alone. You're not real." He brushed her off and she disappeared.

Why couldn't he feel her presence through the Force? What good was that ubiquitous, binding energy when it couldn't bind him to her? It would mean one thing… but he wouldn't insult her by thinking it.

She didn't fall to die there.

She loved life; she cared too much about too many. But what other alternative was there? He should have felt her… he _always_ felt her, so deeply that his mind compensated and created that phantom that wasn't real. His Rey wouldn't gently whisper to blame himself. _His_ Rey would kick his ass and fight till her last dying breath. Not a single atom, not a single thought of her being reached him now, only emptiness. That emptiness corroded his insides and rid him of any sound judgment.

The crowds forgot about that strange man, once someone pointed at the sky and shouted."Look, the ship – it's going down!" Bending of metal and the sound of pressurized steam shook the earth.

Screams blocked but a fraction of that noise. Some were running, trying to hide and outrun the inevitable. Others stood, chained to the spot and staring fascinated at the sky. No one believed the ship would crash – surely, the Resistance was just testing the engines.

Star Destroyer was leaning right, then it careened to the left – then back again. Invisible force was rocking the colossus of steel in the air like a child's swing. It was falling lower and lower until its dagger-shaped tip cut through the buildings and mountain alike. Sand started raining on them, as the destroyer buried its prow in the ground; plowing through.

Nothing withstood that mass.

It sliced through metal and flesh; it was going down in the whirlpool of sand and blood. Sand choked little children first; it filled their small noses and lungs. Mothers then welcomed their death, pressing the babes to their breasts. Whoever could, just grabbed their loved ones and crouched, as if the ground could protect them. It didn't. Nothing compared to the horror of that metal beast. Nobody outran it; nobody could hide or plead for their lives.

Then, the ship lost the momentum and slowly crashed in full, like a gliding paper plane. When the dust settled, those few lucky ones emerged with the look of horror on their faces. They witnessed the Force which brought it down. It was cloth in the body of that young man in black. He was looming over the mass graveyard like a primal deity.

He was heaving up and down, spitting blood. His arm were still high in the air, his hair lay in wet strands around his focused face. He was standing there, unbent, unbroken. He brought down the pride of the Resistance; and he took more lives with it than the entire battle of Korriban.

In losing her, he lost his own will to live. Nothing mattered, now. He expected a blaster shot ending his agony. He looked around. No one approached him, let alone shot him.

"Come on! Fight back, you cowards." He shouted in vain. "Fight for your lives, your vermin… you scum!"

He was spinning in circles." She fought, she could. It's all for you. She would have you all safe, all rescued. Nobody is leaving this fucking planet, now. I'll kill you all for what you've done."

By the end of his rant, he was talking to the empty air. Everyone fled and Kylo Ren knelt down to the ground covered with the stacks of corpses. The stone blocks were cracking into pieces; the blood inside the corpses was boiling as his grief wounded the Force. He refused to wipe blood and sweat from his face. In doing so, he would have to skim the scar. That too, was a memento of her.

The beast was now sobbing. The Force blew breath into the god of death; and his hunger for vengeance knew no bounds.

* * *

Flooding pain washed away the shores of Rey's consciousness. She felt it even before she woke up from that strange limbo. Neither here, nor there, she willed herself to feel it. Pain woke her up. Pain brought her back.

She opened her eyes and immediately shut them again. The glare from neon tubes blinded her. Her eyelids fluttered and she pried them open once more. She was lying on a white, sterile table. Her right arm was hooked to an IV drip, and some people were fussing around her. 2-B medical droids beeped a few times, and shut down. The chamber shook to its foundation. Glass flasks hobbled to the floor and broke; the window display of medicine cabinet shattered.

Those people suddenly became unconcerned about Rey, their faces mirrored dread. One by one, they left the room. Rey widened her eyes. Did they forget her? Was it an earthquake? It wouldn't surprise her if the planet finally collapsed on itself, pulled into the black hole from whence it came.

Rey sat up, unhooked the plastic drip and wobbled to the door. She didn't trust those strangers, especially when she wasn't conscious to see what they were doing with her. She was always very shy and detested touch of others. All but one…

Someone dressed her in a white flowing gown, which hindered her already shaky steps. They gave her some medicine to tame the pain; only to dim all her senses. She benefited from that opaque cloud, though. The image of Ren no longer made her feel like dying. Instead, she felt indifferent, content to be away from him, even.

She was in absolute shock of past few hours; still processing what had happened. In times like these, Rey's first response was to compartmentalize. Pain and sorrow wouldn't help her survive, to heal; so she crossed them off her list for future. She could always die of broken soul later; when her body healed to feel it.

She was walking in a bright corridor, all of a sudden dived in darkness. The lights flickered as the earthquake defused electrical grid; and Rey groped the sides of the wall. She got to a large room with beds and sheets, housing many wounded from the battle. There were echoes of their cries, and then, the light came back again. Earth stopped vibrating and Rey drew her first real breath since she came back.

"Destroyer… it was a star destroyer," she caught snippets of worried mutters. "Didn't you hear? A Resistance fleet crashed down."

"No, no. It was the Order – they shot down the ships. They're retaliating. We're gonna die anyway." Old man with a wooden staff lamented in the corner.

"Don't be stupid." Young, dark skinned man frowned. "It couldn't be a Star Destroyer. Those have ion propellers large like our entire garrison. They fly away even with the cut out power source and self-detonate in the atmosphere before they would ever crash. No force could bring down a destroyer."

"How do you know?" old man pointed his staff at the man.

"I happened to be an engineer before they blew up my town and took me here." The man said. "We're no longer slaves, so we should stop acting like ones." The old man shrank under weight of those words.

Rey was standing quietly, observing the situation.

" _Is Ren safe,"_ was the first thought that crossed her mind. Angry at herself, she strolled around the small aisles between the beds. He was no longer her concern. Maybe he died on that precipice. Maybe he ran away, like the cowards of the Order do. She had to find Finn and Poe. She should have already felt Luke Skywalker's presence. And where was Tanakh, the non-Jedi with Jedi skills who helped her?

The flow of questions stopped when Rey passed a figure shrouded in dark blue robe. She turned slowly on her heel.

"Another refugee, just another survivor," she blinked away the doubts. She met this person before. She felt his energy; he emitted panic. If she didn't see his chest rise and fall under that shroud, she would have sworn it was a droid. Well, maybe the medicine hazed her mind for good. But that energy, that posture…Rey spun the man and peeked under the hood.

"It's you," she said when a head full of ginger hair trembled under it. She was wise not to scream, or attack him right away.

"Quiet… don't…don't betray my cover." Hux begged. Even as a supplicant at her mercy, he still carried that air of superiority.

Rey grabbed his arm. "Why wouldn't I? You wanted to sneak out of Korriban unnoticed, huh? What, you thought you'd escape with the slaves? How could you even…"

He cut her off. "Pssst, please. Yes, yes, I admit. In the heat of the battle, I lost Phasma and my personal squadron got gunned down before they could escort me to my shuttle. They would have killed me on the spot if they caught me."

"You didn't really think this would work, did you?"

"Worth a shot," he grimaced.

Few patients tried eavesdropping on their conversation. In the ward where nothing happened all day, secrets entertained.

"I showed you your parents…"he tried different tactics. "I helped you, I didn't hurt you when I could have. Just let me pass…don't hand me over yet. At least give me a chance to run."

Rey leaned closer to his weasel face. "I might consider something, but first, you talk. Did your Order lose?"

Hux opened his mouth, ready to scold her for such offence. How could she even associate the abominable L-word with the First Order? Rey buried her fists in his fabric before he had the chance. "If you beat around the bush, I will stick this somewhere and then alarm the whole Resistance." She yanked the needle from her vein and shoved it into his face. Hux's nostrils doubled in size. He nodded.

"Let's try again. I want straight answers. Did the First Order lose to the Resistance?"

"Yes."

"Where are your ships?"

"Rebels shot down two of our best destroyers," he said with glazed stare," the third one is on lock down near the asteroid belt."

Rey's heart skipped a beat. "What of the Order now?"

"I told you before. It's not just me. The leaders haven't lost anything. They'll most likely regroup and try again. With or without me," he gulped.

"What about Snoke?"

This was the first time his composed façade dropped. "Snoke is dead."

Rey gripped his robes harder. No – that couldn't be. "Don't lie to me, you cockroach. Tell the truth or I'll probe you. And I don't mean your mind," she rattled another medical instrument in her free hand.

"I'm telling the truth," Hux spat. "He's dead. Ren killed him on Rakata; burnt him with that lightning thing. I saw his body myself. My stormtroopers carried him out and we buried him with all the pomp. Do your mind magic if you don't believe me."

The pain overcame Rey again. Her face flushed and caught fire; her mind was racing in circles. "Then he fooled you. You're wrong. Kylo Ren talked to him; he saw him." She let it slip unwittingly.

"Kylo Ren is obviously mad, then."

Hux suspected something was wrong, when the Knight of Ren kept referring to their late Master as if he still lived. He kept referencing him, he kept asking about orders from him, while all he really talked about was a dead man. Hux thought it was the effect of his injuries, but then, he changed his mind. Ren got mad. "I knew he was in contact with you! I knew it!" Hux hissed as he confirmed his suspicions. He never trusted that boy, so desperate to win over Snoke's attention. "What did you do to him? Kylo Ren," Hux repeated. "Did you kill him?"

Oh, how she wished she did. "What, worried about another man who'd see you dead? For all the talk about the Order, there sure are a lot of people in it who want to kill you, Hux. Are you sure you're on the right side?"

Hux's blue eyes twitched. He scowled at her neck, imagining how it would feel to strangle her.

"One last thing," Rey sighed when she sensed his anger. She didn't need to provoke it. "I want you to write the code sequence I can use to tap into your main computer on that locked Destroyer. "

"Why?"

"Because I said so. Write." She thrust a stylus into his hand and upturned her forearm. Hux's look was priceless. "What, on your skin?"

Rey closed her eyes and wanted to count to ten. She got to three, because he was too much of an idiot to deal with. No wonder the state of the First Order resembled Unkar Plutt's market fair.

"Yes, on my skin. Come on – and don't try to trick me. The exact sequence."

Rey's stomach turned upside down, when Hux fumbled into her ear as he drew her closer. The pen was tickling her skin, but he deliberately pressed the tip, so it scratched. Rey bit her lip not to laugh. He would have his little vendetta, even if it was the last thing he'd do. The ink covered the whole length of her forearm, when he rolled her sleeve and continued on her shoulder.

"Done." He said as he finished marking her. He twirled the stylus in his fingers, his eyes shifting.

"Give me that, before you fry your brain working overtime." Rey snatched the pen and rolled down her sleeve.

"So?" Hux cocked his head. "We have a deal?"

"Sure, yes. We have a deal." Rey stood up and walked away. Not three steps further, she spun on her heel, stretched her hand and Force slammed Hux into the nearest wall.

It hut her more than him, to strain herself like that, but it was worthy. She kept him locked in the air, until the commotion attracted attention of the former slaves. Hux's hood fell. He was gritting his teeth in pain and shame.

"Look, it's the one who put those collars on your neck. I'm sure you have some things you want to say to him." Rey shrugged and left the room. The silence of the oppressed didn't last long. She heard a shockwave of cries and cheers, powerful enough to compete with the magnitude of that earthquake.

Outside, she cried in pain.

"No, no." She must have cut herself and blood was falling down on the snowy ground. But there was no snow on the red planet; only sand… her head was spinning. She felt tired, and so unsure of where she was. Few red stains seeped through her white gown, near her lower abdomen – that was her snow. When she slammed him, her stitches opened. She didn't bother thinking why she needed them in the first place. Crawling back to the empty infirmary took forever, but when she got there, she drew the covers up and fell into deep sleep.

* * *

 **A/N First few hours after, Rey is in shock and denial. Ren becomes a beast right away. *sigh***


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

* * *

Rey stirred, savoring the last few moments before waking up from a wonderful dream.

"Told you not to eat it here. Look, you almost woke her up."

"Aaaarghh. Eaarrrh."

"I told you, I _don't_ understand you. Please, please just go find Skywalker. No – don't." She heard the rustling of fabric. "Look, I happen to love this jacket, all right? You don't spill breadcrumbs on this….ugh."

"Is that a fashion emergency I hear, Finn?" When he snapped his neck towards her, she was already looking at him and smiling.

"Gods, how great it is to see you." Finn sighed.

Only when Rey sat up, she noticed that Finn had his jacket draped over identical white robes like hers. "What happened? Are you all right? What about the others? Where's Poe? And Luke? And that man…Tannos, or Tannah…"

Finn chuckled, raising his hand to stop the barrage of questions. "I'm fine. I took a blaster hit to my shoulder. Poe is running around the base somewhere, trying to be the big hero he always is. Skywalker most likely disappeared with that man – his name is Tanakh. Ever since the battle, they're always plotting something, or arguing. All in all, it's never boring here."

"How long was I…"

"Oh, just three days. Don't worry, nothing major happened."

How wrong he was, Rey dropped her gaze. Everything happened. It all changed for her. She fiddled with the blankets on her lap.

"Where's my co-pilot" She spun her head when she didn't see Chewie.

"He went out to finish his Groat chop. Don't ask." Finn rolled his eyes. "We'll never get the stench off the Millenium Falcon again. He went on a spree when you left him the ship on Takodana."

Corners of her lips twitched, at first. Then, her soft chuckle grew into full-blown laughter. She was laughing so hard, she snorted like a child. "By all the disconnected droids, I haven't had a laugh like this in ages." She was wiping tears from her eyes. She still could laugh – that was a sign. She would get through this; she didn't need him. She _didn't_ , she screamed and kicked until her focus returned back to Finn.

Medical droid measured her vital functions, and when it cleared her, Rey was allowed to leave. She was folding her hospital robes, when she noticed new blood stain. She was bleeding for a few days, but she chalked it up to the stress her body endured in the last days. She took a steaming hot shower, interrupted by an occasional water shortage due to unstable grid. She pressed a faint scar where the stitches used to be, marring her skin across her pubic bone like a barbed wire. She made a mental note to review the memory records of the medical droid later.

As she massaged her scalp with jasmine soap, the tension gradually disappeared from her shoulders. She was doing it mechanically, not thinking about the way her hands slid down her wet body. She felt him inside her, his whispers in her ear, his hands on her collarbone.

Once again, she had to scream inside her head.

She got dressed in a clean white dress that had been provided for her. They were long and flared at the end, while tight top fastened with a leather belt. Rey never wore a dress. She considered it impractical and girly. She imagined bouncing off a frigate to salvage a retractor in this, and frowned. Her hair layered in soft chocolate waves, the dress hugged her petite figure.

Rey felt like a woman, maybe for the first time in her life. Physical connection she shared with Kylo didn't make her feel any different. It felt natural as breathing, not a milestone she felt the need to mule over in her head. This, however, did feel strange.

Finn didn't recognize her as she emerged from the medical ward. She was radiant; her olive skin contrasted with the niveous dress and brought out two colors of her eyes more.

"What?" Rey crossed her arms at her chest. "You thought I wouldn't wear that, did you?"

"Not really. It suits you. You look…"

Rey snorted. She wasn't used to compliments, not even from Kylo. Here he was, again, wormed in her head like a virus.

 _'_ _Well, he did try to kill you. It would be more alarming not to think about him.'_

 _'_ _Shut up.'_ She argued with herself. Even her own mind was split in two, a half which wished to kill him, and the other wishing she never met him.

Both friends were walking across a barren courtyard, leading to the building which didn't stand there three days ago. It was made from metal and glass, three stories high and full of light. It stood like a grandiose prism in the midst of a desert. It screamed class; it screamed power and immediately divided those in the fortress from those below. Rey didn't like it one bit.

"Resistance built that?" She asked.

"There is no more Resistance. We're called another name now; a pompous one I can't seem to remember. They will tell you everything." Finn led her to the highest floor.

The compound was buzzing like a beehive. Men and women dressed in light blue official uniforms were carrying tablets, and stacks of paper and plasma screens. Aliens and humans were crossing the corridors and the languages mingled and disappeared into one dissonant babble. She didn't pay attention to furtive stares from men who were sizing her up from head to toe. Finn did, but he had more fun watching Rey's clueless stomp; that cute determined walk he was so used to.

The third and highest floor was the quietest. BeeBee Eight rolled around Rey's ankles and nudged her forward. She let Finn go first and quickly squatted next to the droid, rolled up her sleeve and let him scan the fading ink. She couldn't wait to thoroughly scrub off the last remnants of Hux's touch.

She and Finn entered an oval board room with a large glass panel instead of its southern wall. At the table, were sitting nearly all people she had inquired about, and some other she never met.

"For the winning side, they sure don't look happy, huh?" Finn whispered as he held her chair. Rey sat down between Leia and Poe, who immediately flashed his pearly whites and rubbed her back. Leia gave her one sad smile and returned to examining her charts. Finally, at the head of the table, Luke Skywalker stood up.

"Now, we're all here. We can begin." He was wearing a set of robes which had seen better days. He had bags under his eyes and his beard was longer and scruffier. Rey expected more personal welcome, if not warmer.

"As you all know, seventy-two hours ago ended one of the most important battles in recent history. Battle of Korriban managed to sway the prospects on our side. The Resistance won over the First Order, stationed here; in their self-proclaimed slaver's mine colony. Since the imposing of slavery on free peoples of all star systems has been in direct breach of the First Amended Sith-Galactic Treaty…"

Rey couldn't believe her ears.

They were supposed to be celebrating; trying to meet with people they had saved and get them home as soon as possible. Instead, she was sat at a saccharine political meeting. These people looked burdened by the very notion of a handshake, let alone personal contact with those below this shiny fortress.

Her eyes circled the room.

A golden protocol droid with red arm was taking notes. Three men she had never seen, dressed in high-ranking uniforms, were sitting too straight, reminding her of Hux. Leia kept her eyes on the table, and Tanakh – the Dathomirian who helped her, was brooding about something known only to him. Rey had definitely had more fun at the funeral of Marckell; the distant relative of Unkar Plutt who fell to the rotavator. Perhaps the fun had to do more with the fact that they were burying pink goo, because the rotavator crushed his slimy limbs.

"…so, without further notice, the actions of Resistance has been voted null and void, as of this moment. The Galactic Concordat has come into session. All present occupy the position in new government in certain capacity."

Luke put away his flat screen and sat down. Rey couldn't take it any longer. She addressed him directly, even if he didn't show her the same courtesy. "Wait – I am not supposed to be privy to this, then. I am not a member of your concordat government, or however you spell it." She wasn't even a fully trained Jedi, and no one asked her if she _wanted_ to get involved in this. When people assumed, instead of asked, she got really angry.

Luke barely looked at her. "Yes, you are. Please, don't interrupt us. We have a lot on our agenda today."

"You're supposed to be a new Jedi Master.," Poe winked at her and pointed at himself."Air force," then he pointed at Finn. "Army."

Finn put his hand on Rey's under table. She was getting agitated.

Leia rose next. "As you know, the Council named me an interim Governor of the newly formed Galactic Senate. I want to address the most immediate issue, and that is the slaves." Golden droid handed her another tablet. "As of now, more than thirteen thousand slaves are in our care. Those are only able bodied, and ready to be shipped to their home planets at moment's notice. Another two thousand are in need of our medical attention. Remaining four thousand five hundred are most likely going to succumb to their injuries." She sighed. "The least we can do is to make them comfortable here, on Korriban."

Able bodied? Processed? Shipped? Rey didn't understand how they could still speak of them as units, as numbers. She squirmed in her seat, thankful for Finn's hand. _She_ was a number not so long ago. Just because someone saw beyond her number could she now sit here and play at an important official.

"Where can I see them? I need to see a list of names at least. I promised someone I would find them." Rey asked.

"I can look it up right now, we have formed a database based on their collar statistics. Give me a name," Leia beckoned.

"Sirah, her name is Sirah. She's just a little girl, six, maybe seven." Rey bit her lower lip. Leia's fingers swept the screen. Rey knew the moment their new governor learnt what became of the girl; but she decided to double check; then triple check.

"You can tell me," Rey said quietly. "I already know, if you're stalling."

"She's not on the list of survivors. Her collar is disconnected; it transmits no activity. I am so sorry." Leia said, but she wasn't. She couldn't be. She didn't feel sorry for her own son. How could she feel sorry for a girl she never met?

Rey's breaths got deeper. Her eyes screamed at anyone who would gaze into them. No one in the room did. They were all sitting, discussing statistics and playing with numbers.

Leia continued. "The Galactic Concordat will reside on Korriban, for now, while we're looking for a new suitable planet for our Senate. We already have volunteers statio-"

"What about Kylo Ren?" Rey stood up. "What about him, huh?"

Leia dropped the small plasma screen on the table.

"Kylo Ren has vanished." Luke's voice got hoarser with each word. "He escaped after he crashed down a Star Destroyer and murdered hundreds of people in cold blood. Of course, we would have gotten to that point even without your interruptions."

"Rey," Finn took her in his hand again.

Rey lurched away. Fine, she would go looking for Sirah herself. The possibility of her being dead simply didn't exist for Rey, until she saw the body.

"I don't care." She took further step back. "I don't belong here, with you. Don't count on me being a part of this. If you excuse me, I'll go where I'm useful – down to the barracks, to make those dying numbers comfortable. "

"You are not excused." Luke stopped her. In single wave of his hand, he latched the door. "Sit."

Rey rattled the handle. It was locked. She hesitated using the Force in front of all these people. Slowly, she returned to her seat, glaring at Luke.

He let out a deep sigh and exchanged a glance with his sister. "I think we need to discuss some things in private. If you please," he waved again, and the door opened. Everyone, but Rey and her Master vacated their seats.

"Don't think-"

"Don't you think-"

They both started at once. Luke motioned to her, inviting her to speak first.

Rey folded her arms across her chest, making a point of addressing a wall, not Luke. "Hello Master. Good to see you, Master. How have you been? Oh, I see you've been injured – let me ask about you, Master. Great. We freed thousands of slaves, now, let's all sit around a big polished table and act important. No? Well, at least make sure to make a fool of Rey when she doesn't want to be a part of this and not let her be useful in her own way."

Luke sat mutely, his eyes twinkling.

She was tapping her foot, still looking ahead. "But Rey," she mimicked Luke's deep voice. "Patience is essential to a Jedi," "Patience is the key. Impatience leads to anxiety, anxiety leads to fear, fear leads to…" The words stopped pouring.

She was still staring into empty space, but her eyes no longer saw the wall. Rey was reliving a moment of fear; the one moment when she took a literal leap of faith. She was so afraid above that precipice; so broken. Her hand slipped to her stomach without thinking. She felt like caressing that scar.

Luke relived it with her, through the Force.

He cleared his throat. "Are you quite finished, my padawan? I think you had me exact; only the pitch was a little off. Look at me." He pleaded.

Rey jerked back. _Look at me_ , Kylo whispered to her in the most intimate of moments. This day was full of moments which clawed at her heart deeper, and deeper. Her eyes flooded. She wiped them as if nothing happened.

"Rey – look at me." Luke repeated.

The second she did, warmth and peace washed over her. Luke's silver eyes smoothed over that burden. He took her hand into his. "I know. I know what happened between you and Ben. Tanakh told me some things, and what he didn't, I saw."

"How?"

"How do you think you healed so fast in three days? I put you in the deep Force hibernation, an ancient trance state in which one Jedi can direct the life force to another. I saw it all in your mind, from the moment you were fighting in the forest of Starkiller base. All."

Rey's hand trembled in Luke's.

That's why he looked so tired, so drained. He did it for her – and she acted like a brat. It reminded her of what Kylo did in the temple. While Sith took the life force from all around them, often killing the victim; Jedi sacrificed their own to heal the other. Jedi would suffer, while Sith _made_ others suffer, all for the same goal.

"I don't know how to thank you, Master. I don't know how-"

"You don't have to thank me, Rey. You are my padawan and I will always take care of you."He gently caressed her cheek. "But some things are beyond my control; some wounds you need to heal yourself, before they fester and turn into scars. Wounds can be healed, scars last forever."

She knew exactly what he was talking about. "I don't know what you mean." She lied. She didn't feel comfortable discussing Ren with someone who would see but a beast, not a man. She would have to defend her feelings, if Luke pointed out how perverse they were, how wrong it all ended.

"You're in denial. You loved him and he hurt you, so much you wouldn't mind dying on that mountain. You need to mourn, Rey, mourn and let go. Move on before it consumes you."

"I never wanted to die," she said loudly. "I don't care what he did. I never really believed him anyway. In fact, he did what's in his nature; in the nature of evil. I trusted him and he didn't. I believed he would trust me before anyone else, but he didn't."

Luke saw the change in her. She hadn't realized it yet, but she opened the wound.

"Yes. " She stood up, pacing the room. "He raised his hand against _me_. But I don't care…not really." She swung her arms in the air. "We won, Korriban is free of the First Order and now, thousands of people can come back to their families; to the people who love them."

"Well, if you truly feel that way, then nothing stands in your way to join me. I am to form a new Force training facility; Tanakh and I have already tested nearly half the slave children. Some are force sensitive. "

"Another Jedi academy?" Rey asked.

"Not exactly. The age of Jedi and Sith has ended. The age of Force Users begins. They will be trained differently than me, and even you."

"That is…" Rey had to take two more breaths till she could talk again. "That is great."

Luke raised himself and calmly stood in the center of the chamber as she spiraled around him like a satellite. "You can't feel him through the Force and he can't feel you, despite your bond. He went too deep in the dark side of the Force for your light. I cloaked you from him, when I healed you in the hibernation. He escaped, but we're hunting him. There is but one outcome for my nephew, and you and him being together isn't it. Don't torment yourself with imagined future."

How could he desecrate those moments they shared? Rey was gasping for breath, wiping streams of hot tears. For the first time since the battle night, she admitted the greatest loss in her life, not to Luke – to herself.

All that betrayal; all that hurt was screaming to come out.

"I loved him, Master. Nothing about it is imagined – our future certainly wasn't. If a stupid piece of plastic didn't fall out my pocket, you and I wouldn't be sitting here right now. You don't know him very well, then, when you doubt how deeply we felt about each other."

Their love was real.

Their love could move mountains. Kylo saved Sirah because he loved Rey. And now, Rey killed her, because she didn't get to her in time, as she promised. Ren and Rey's fate was tied to that little, innocent girl. It didn't matter which side they were on, as long as they remained together. Together, they could save a life - or destroy it. Together, they could do anything.

"But what kind of love it was, when you would have chosen the fall to escape it? When you would have killed yourself?"

"I didn't want to kill myself." She insisted.

"No?"

"I didn't want to kill myself." She repeated louder.

"What, then? Admit it, Rey."

I didn't!" She screamed. "I wanted to punish him! I wanted him to feel my loss and take the knowledge he was the cause of it to his grave. I knew exactly what he felt when he saw me falling down. I knew because I felt the same when I left him above."

Rey fell to her knees and Luke followed. "Let go, Rey. Cry, if you must, but be rid of that pain." He cradled her in his arms like a child.

And Rey wept.

* * *

 **A/N Poor Rey. Kylo in the next one, that'll be just intense...Thank you all wonderful people for reading and comments :)**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

* * *

Kylo Ren was resting his head on the cold, glass panel. It rumbled while the spaceship was getting ready for landing.

His fingers tapped the steel surface of the table. The person sitting opposite him mimicked the gesture. He knocked twice. The person knocked twice. Dainty figure was clad in a set of robes – his dark robes, drowning in it like a newborn in a tablecloth. That left him with a short sleeved black T-shirt and pants.

"Stop it," he snarled.

"Stop what?" child's voice played innocent.

"That… stop repeating everything I do."

"I'm bored."

"We're landing soon. Just keep your head and voice down."

The ship spun around its axis three times, while descending to the green fields. Kylo stood up. He glanced back – the girl was still standing by the table.

"Great, "he sighed. "Now you decided to disobey? Come on," he tilted his head.

Sirah tugged the robes closer.

Kylo sighed and stretched his hand in the air. The girl jumped right away and snatched it. He was pacing his steps, but she still barely caught up with him. She was running while he strolled leisurely. Her delicate hand didn't get lost in his; she was squeezing it with strength of a grown up. They walked off the trap door, further down the country road. The spring breeze disheveled his hair. Sirah's head was spiraling in all directions. She was drinking in the lush colors of the meadow, loamy scent of earth and flowers. Those humongous robes were sweeping dust and dirt as she scampered behind him.

The field ended in a fork of the road marked by two wooden sign posts.

"You go left – there's your home village. You go right – you walk half a day to the nearest town. "Kylo motioned to both sides and dropped her hand.

"Are you sad because you're leaving me?" Sirah asked.

"What?" He blinked.

She felt a deep wound where his heart used to be. The Force carried his wailing like a requiem; unspoken and buried deep within. Kylo forgot the child was Force sensitive. When he brought the doom down on Korriban, troops rallied to him. When he knelt, one by one, soldiers gathered around the fallen Star Destroyer. Their only shot at escaping had been in the wake of Ren. Stormtroopers who managed to escape, or wounded who worked for the Order surrounded him, and led him to a ship. He sensed her presence – the little girl. Blinded by his grief, he pulled her from under debris, scooped her in his arms and brought her to the ship. He cut off her magnetic collar and set for the coordinates listed as her home world.

He saved her life for Rey. The first time she ever told him she loved him, was after she learnt he had spared Sirah's life. The most treasured of admissions came to him connected with the little slave.

He didn't speak to the kid those two days she spent on the ship. He made sure she was fed and clothed, but he didn't speak. He felt her presence through the Force when he was looking for Rey's. It was comforting, to sense another one like him; a child who could still grow up right. Sirah didn't bother him. She kept to herself, playing with anything from screwdrivers to dinner forks.

She was alone in the world, just like Kylo. Two lost souls could help each other in silence.

He crouched next to her. "I'm not sad. Who knows, girl, maybe we will see each other again. "He doubted it. He would stay away from her just to give her a chance, just to keep her slate clean.

"Go."

She scrunched her nose. "But where?"

He sighed. "Wherever you want. I told you, left or right."

Such freedom of choice was incomprehensible to someone who never had it. Sirah had been ordered what to do, where to go, when to eat. Now, this sad, pale man threw her in the middle of a road which led everywhere and nowhere at all.

"But I don't know what I want." She disturbed the gravel with her soles.

"Yes, yes you do." Kylo took her hands into his. "Close your eyes." He murmured. Sirah obeyed. "Think about what you remember before soldier in white took you and your mother."

"I can't see her face…I can't imagine it." She squealed.

"It doesn't matter. Don't look for the face – feel. What did you feel when you were happy? When was the last time she hugged you, gave you a kiss and tucked you in? Think about the smell of her hair, think about the food she fed you."

Ren was still kneeling besides her, gently swinging her hands in the air. The girl felt an invisible hand caress her shoulder. She saw a cottage, cozy little hut with a red chimney. The feeling of full belly overwhelmed her; her stomach had never felt so content in her life. The cottage was full of people, not just her mother. Withered hands took her out of her cot and pinched her chubby cheek.

Her eyes flew open. "Left. I have a home there, I had a mother and she had a mother." Sirah blurted out, forgetting proper word for it.

"You have a grandmother, then. Well – go. Go and don't stop until you find the house. May the Force be with you, Sirah."

"And you also stay strong," she wished him. Kylo smiled. She didn't know of the Force; yet she was using it in its purest form; unspoiled by the Jedi dogma or Sith violence.

She thought he wished her to be strong. He rose to his full height. The girl took a few tentative steps to the unknown. Then, she swiftly turned and ran back to him. She crashed into his knees, and hugged him like a tree trunk. Ren didn't say anything – he couldn't.

He didn't return the embrace; he just laid his hand on top of her head. Sirah craned her neck and smiled, jumping up and down the dirt road towards her home. The gravel was ricocheting off her shoes, the wind was combing through her hair; no longer red under the dregs of iron. They were brown – brown and shiny like soft hair of that nice girl – Rey. She kept running, dragging those big robes behind her. She loved them already – they were the first thing that belonged only to her, no one else. She would cherish them forever.

Now, that the girl was no longer dependent on his care, he crumbled. Not physically, but inside. The ship left one planet behind, only to head to another. Something in him cracked. At nights, he was desperately calling to Rey, praying he would feel her hatred.

She must have hated him – even he did. But he didn't feel her in the Force. That might have meant she died. Never, that couldn't happen. If she died, the sun would go out and the time would stop. She had survived that fall, if only to prove him wrong again. Nights bled into days and those fused together like plates of hot metal.

After forty hours awake, the sounds lagged behind; he heard everything in slow motion. The shiny objects scorched his retina and cast halos around; so he never kept awake with eyes wide open. His sluggish legs carried him nowhere; his movements automated and he needed to feel again.

He couldn't sleep, because the sound of those two heartbeats was torturing him the second he closed his eyes. One was hers – whose was the other?

He replayed that moment over and over. The key was in that look; in that small drop of eyes with specks of green. What had she seen? Why did she let herself fall? At their first meeting, he carried her in his arms, at their last, he let her fall. Ren kept tossing and turning, alone in the darkness of his cabin. He locked out the possibility of her not being anymore. Maybe Skywalker saved her; maybe the light side refused to accept the ghost of those who gave it up willingly. Rey was so good, so pure, not even death wanted her.

He was waking up, with drenched pillows, feeling that last salty drop slide down the tip of his nose. He scooped the tear and observed how it glistened on his fingers. When he didn't, he stared into empty space. The stars and planets blended into one; the sight outside the ship's window insulted him. Such a spectacle, so many people in the entire galaxy, and yet she wouldn't exist.

"Unthinkable," he sighed. "Impossible," he scratched the glass. The thoughts of her cauterized his heart, until the glass shone red and his torn nails bathed in blood.

"Sir," knocking put him out of his misery. They had been told not to disturb him. "Sir, please, the Commander has boarded the ship."

Another official sent by the Order, another Hux he had to deal with. Another vermin he had to rush and greet, now. Kylo sighed and toyed with his mask. He tossed it back on the chair. He didn't bother getting new robes; he wore the same thing since he gave his to Sirah. His shirt felt loose – when was the last time he ate? He couldn't remember the taste of anything, but he must have eaten something, right? He digested memories of that dark, stormy night, but no food.

The presence emerged from the steam of a black shuttle; not man. The aura he carried clustered around his confident walk; the swing of his arms, the clicking of his boots. He wore dark cape and a military uniform. His hair was black in a sea of gray; his angular jaw and hard stare demanded respect. When he spoke, one couldn't help but direct all his focus on him.

"I'm Commander Bridger." He shook Ren's hand. His voice echoed like the insides of an empty barrel. "I was sent to supervise the chemical droids. I hope we can work out the details together."

Ren would have been exalted he didn't have to deal with another Hux. Finally, he met a reasonable man within the First Order. He would have been – before he lost Rey. Now, he didn't care.

"It's my pleasure, Commander. The troopers will show you to your quarters." Ren kept the conversation brief and polite. He could survive one greeting, and then, go back to the solitude of his chamber. The dinner, he dreaded. His presence was required to welcome Bridger, to treat him to some sycophantic remarks so he would feel important.

"You don't have to flatter me, Ren. You don't have to speak to me at all." Commander joined the tips of his finger together.

"What?" Kylo's head shot up. Bridger was staring at the mask lay on the table bent under the weight of food. "You…you have the Force." Kylo narrowed his eyes.

"I'm older than I look. I used to train under a Jedi Master back at the days of the Empire, one of the last of his kind. I was a padawan, once. I can sense a lot from one look at you; that's why we don't have to talk. I'm perfectly happy with peace, if you prefer."

The Force in him intrigued Ren. The crackling of wood in the makeshift hearth filled the awkward silence. "Did you train under Supreme Leader Snoke?" Ren asked.

"No, never. I have never bowed to Snoke. For that, he had others." Commander's blue eyes sized Ren up. This broken young man had already given up on life. "I imagine you were one in his posse of extraordinary children."

Ren's hands curled into fists under table."I was chosen, yes. I couldn't wish for better master."

"Yes, Snoke had always had a penchant for certain special talents. But please, enough with the talk about him. He's gone now and we have other task at hand."

Ren sighed. That was another man who talked about the Supreme Leader as if he were dead. Snoke apparently decided to go deeper into hiding, when he shielded his presence even in front of the Order. It didn't matter, as long as he revealed himself to Kylo.

"Don't get me wrong – I haven't come here to chastise you. However, the alloy which was sent from Denon was never received by this fleet."

Ren clunk his fork at the edge of the plate.

"Have you nothing to say?" Commander arched his brow.

Ren wasn't aware of any alloy, or shipment, or duties that had been bestowed upon him. He simply didn't care. Now, if only there was a polite way to let this asshole know and leave this wretched night behind.

Bridger took a large swig of his mulled wine. "Well, nevermind that. According to our estimates, the first batch of chemical droids is ready for release. We're in the process of selecting a suitable planet to test it on. It's logistics, you understand."

The rest of the evening passed in a dull, uneventful conversation, then around midnight, Bridger bid goodnight. Ren had spent two hours with that man yet he had no recollection of what they had been talking about. He stood up from the plate filled with untouched meat and lowered his bulky frame to a chair.

Kylo was staring into the fireplace, thinking of the flames from which all in the universe came. Hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur and other elements were exactly the same as within his cells. They were all made of star dust and fire; the planets, the void, the blood and stone. His head fell on his breasts. That jolted him back to his body. He felt tired; so tired he couldn't sleep. There lied the viciousness in that circle – the body needed sleep _to_ sleep. He reached the point when he celebrated each new heartbeat. It might very well be his last; so rapidly his strength faded, so near the collapse his mind felt.

Heat lulled him to the state between sleep and wakefulness. The warmth was spreading across the skin of his bare arms, and his head dropped again.

He was standing in the garden full of russet trees. The colors waned to various shades of brown and gold. He felt tired in this marvelous place; not a dream, but not a vision either. He spotted a little boy in a miniature replica of smuggler's outfit.

His throat closed.

He was watching himself as a child, dressed in brown pantaloons, white shirt and black vest. He even buckled a holster belt across his back, just like Han Solo. He was running around that garden, kicking the leaves and watching the wind fan them. Little girl stomped towards him.

"Ben – I won't repeat it again. Don't play with my dejarik figures! I was beating the Hutt, but you erased the last slot, so I have to play again."

Older Kylo keeled on the side. If it wasn't for a tree, he would have tumbled down. It was Rey – little, four years old Rey who Ben Solo mocked. "That's for you know what. You took the pyramid."

"Dad gave it to me!"

"Don't call him that. It's _my_ dad, not yours – so you can't play with it!"

"Why not?" Rey put her hands on her hips.

"Because I said so!" Ben threw a fistful of leaves at her. Rey shrieked, brushing it off her loose hair. "Eww, get it out, get it out! I can feel the spider!"

Han Solo sprinted towards them and knelt before the fighting kids. "What is going on with you? Ben - not again. I told you not to taunt her." Han pulled a twig and a squirrel dropping out of Rey's hair. As a mature adult, he grimaced, which Rey interpreted as a biggest possible spider currently weaving cobwebs in her hair, and screamed louder. Ben's mouth upturned and before Han could prevent it, the dam burst. Both children were wailing to high heavens and Han never looked more desperate.

"Uhm, ehm… please stop? "He buried his face in his hands, seeing only one solution. "Leeeeiaaaa!"

The scenery changed. Kylo was no longer clutching the tree, his fingers met with empty air. He recognized that place – it was Luke's former Academy.

"…so I told her – not unless you want to feel the power of the dark side, if you know what I mean." Fifteen year old Ben wiggled his eyebrow at his equally lanky and hormonal friends. He was already a foot taller than any boy in the circle; his hair was wavy, but shorter than he wore it now. They all modified their robes, either cut the sleeves or fray the hems. Some were wearing sleeveless variants, unaware that at their age, they didn't impress any girl with those skinny arms.

Kylo smiled at the sight of young him. He remembered how he desperately tried slicking his mane back, to make his nose looks smaller. In fact, he struggled with his face a lot, trying to make _anything_ look smaller, from his elephant ears to the full lips.

A voice outside of their merry crew snorted audibly.

One boy cleared the way and Ben spotted Rey, leaning on the wall with one knee bent. She was wearing her hair in her three little buns, dressed in cream padawan robes. Her sleeves were neatly folded, her lean body hidden behind the coarse fabric diligently fastened in three loops of a belt.

"Anything funny, Reyata?" Ben asked.

"Oh, what's not to laugh at?" She was examining her nails lazily. "Yes, it's funny, especially when I heard another version of that story. Let's say – the true one. Dark side didn't last very long."

Wolf whistles spread in the circle and boys smirked at each other. This was going to be good. Ben swaggered towards her, purposefully straightening his back to look taller.

"You know what? I believe you. After all, you can only _hear_ about these things, because nobody would do anything with you, swot." He stretched one of his arms next to her head.

"Says the one unable to give a handshake, what with being best friends with his right hand." Rey spat back.

Ben raised his other arm, closing Rey in a cage to which only he held the key.

"Are you jealous?" His dark eyes pierced her.

"Enormously. Especially at that blankie you're still hiding in your trunk. But I understand – Chewie gave me one, too. I would have had trouble falling asleep without it as well."

Their chests rose and fell in union, both teens were fuming. One from anger, the other felt something else… something he was suppressing for a long time.

The scene changed, but the setting did not. Kylo was at the garden behind the Academy, in the vast fields of trimmed grass and orchards. He saw Ben, maybe a year older. He was crouching near a tree stump. His muffled sobs were lost to all, but one. She was observing him for some time now, unsure how to approach him. Whenever she asked, he lashed out.

"You can come out. I'm not stupid, I know you're there."

Rey revealed herself. "I know you know. I was just thinking if you're worthy my time. After all, that lunch I wore today because of you was enough of Ben Solo for me." She sat next to him. His hair was longer and hers fell past her shoulders.

"All right, you saw me, swot. I'm alive. You can go. Scoot." Ben wiped his face, trying to get rid of all signs of his distress, except he couldn't mask his nasal voice.

"You don't want me to tell on you to Uncle Luke or Auntie Leia, because I will. So either tell me, or I'm going." She crossed her arms.

Ben's eyes dropped to her ample chest, then, he quickly looked away. "It was that man… he was talking to me in my sleep again."

"You had that dream again?" Rey's eyes softened.

"No, it's not a dream. He's real – I know he is. He usually just talks to me about the Force and how powerful it could make one. But… tonight, he showed me something. It was terrible."

Rey swiveled on her knees to face him. "No, Ben. Don't give into that dream. Don't listen to it."

"That's easy for you to say." He barked. "How exactly do you suggest I do that?"

"Through the Force, you moron. Meditate, tap into the light side. Let it wash over you. Master Luke has been drilling literally nothing else into our heads for years we've been here. Have you learnt nothing at all?"

Rey sighed.

She translated his distant gaze as lack of interest. She couldn't be further from the truth. "Close your eyes, and imagine warm, radiant light pulsating through you." Rey's face relaxed and she exercised of what she spoke at the same time. Ben, on the other hand, didn't. While she closed her eyes, he was staring at her as if she herself was made of star light.

"Then, think about the happiest memory you ever had. Bask in it, let it flow through you. Carry faces in your heart, faces of those you love. Pull one out and always feel what they feel; given so selflessly and unconditionally. That's how I do it."

Rey opened her eyes. She shifted a bit, surprised at the proximity of her worst friend. They called each other worst friend and best enemy – because that's what they were to each other.

"What faces?" Ben asked.

"I see your mom and dad." Rey tucked a strand of her hair nervously. "They raised me as their own and…"She felt his breath on her skin, he kept looking at her as a blind man seeing light for the first time. "What face do you see?"

"Yours," he whispered and leaned closer. Stunned Rey was at loss of words. She didn't know she needed him like this before she simply did.

Kylo didn't see the kiss – the scenery shifted again.

He landed in the middle of nowhere. All he discerned was an outline of a country house on a green planet.

"Impossible," he shook his head as familiar waterfalls roared in the distance.

He saw two silhouettes in the yard of that house - a woman with significant baby bump and a man who caressed it. Ren could tell who they were, not because he saw their faces, but because he found himself in that man's stare. Kylo was watching them for a while. The man pulled her chair before she asked. He gave up his last fruit bowl because they had run out of strawberries. When she laughed, his mouth twitched, even if she ridiculed him. She was constantly aware of his presence. She touched him every time he did any of those things for her, a finger brush, an arm lock, a quick kiss that he returned with a long one.

They lived as one. They felt as one, him more intense when it came to her pain, or love, or happiness.

The most mundane of activities – an afternoon picnic – was a stream of perfectly synchronized movements, touches and smiles which left them hungry for more. She was an extension of his being and he was the wall shielding her from the world. Kylo missed any of the natural wonders surrounding him. Even the waterfalls paled in comparison to what they shared. When the sun set, she leaned against him and he enveloped her in his arms. She sang a lullaby to their unborn child as he whispered something in her ear. They fell asleep on a wooden swing, in the garden full of fireflies.

Kylo Ren woke up. The flames turned to embers, the ship hummed and pierced its way through the space and he felt that salty drop on his nose, yet again. His apathy changed to sorrow; he was mourning the past – or was it future?

"Consider yourself lucky."

Ren darted out of the chair. Commander Bridger was sitting in the chasse in the corner, sipping amber liquid from thick glass. "I just needed a night cap. No, no, don't worry. I didn't see anything. Your visions are still yours, private as ever. I felt it, though."

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked. He was livid that this stranger had been privy to his dreams.

"I told you I was trained by one of the finest Jedi masters of all time. And his master before even knew your grandfather – yes, Darth Vader had pupils, too. I know what you experienced because someone had taught me about it. The Force gave you the greatest gift, Kylo Ren. It took your remorse and anger and transformed it into life as it would have been.

The Force showed you alternate reality, something which would have passed if one constant replaced another in your past."

Kylo slumped back in the chair. He took the drink Bridger was offering and drank it in one gulp. The liquid burnt his esophagus, but he felt only awe, not fire. The Force showed him his life, if Rey grew up with him. But how could that be? She was never going to grow up on Endor, or Hossnian, or whenever his mother's politics took them.

 _"_ _She's tainted. Even Luke Skywalker didn't want anything to do with her, when that fool San Tekka brought her to him as a baby. He refused to train her – didn't you know?"_

When Snoke had spoken these words at Darth Vader's tomb, he divulged deepest sin Ren's uncle committed. Had Luke Skywalker agreed and taken Rey into his care, the dream would have become a reality.

Ben Solo would have never had succumbed to Snoke's manipulation, because Rey would have stood by him. He loved her, even in another reality, even in a dream. He loved her time and time again, through space and time and all odds. He loved her.

And now he sent that love to its death. They had a future. He blamed the mirror for driving her away, but it was Skywalker who erased that future. It was him, whose hand pushed her away _first_. For that, Ren would never forgive. For that, Luke's life had already been claimed as his.

Thousands of light years away, Rey woke up. She had a dream…

* * *

 **A/N I feel so sorry for him - for them. This has been long planned, in fact since ch3.**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

* * *

… and the dream sowed discord into her already troubled mind. She was alone, but she felt his presence. Not the boy, but the man. Around the boy, she noticed something else. Dark aura loomed above him, a shadow presence which gnawed at him like a malicious tendril filling his heart.

Once young Ben kissed young Rey; the shadow grew paler. Then, at the meadow with the waterfall, it was no more. She shot out of her bed into the glass panel of her chamber, before she became aware of her milieu and bounced on the floor. Lightning gleam fell on the smooth skin of her bare legs; another storm seized Korriban; one of many after the battle. Rey didn't bother to scrape back to her feet. She was sitting on the floor, her back propped by the bed footing, looking at the gale. Such was the condition of her mind at that very moment.

How?…what?…she was clutching her head. Didn't Luke shield her from Kylo in the Force? Rey sensed it – the pull to the man she tried to smother in her thoughts. The very idea of him thrust her into the state of unrest, but unlike this dream. This felt so real, so vivid that her heart ached for those familiar moments which had never happened. She mourned their unborn child; as if death really took him. She brushed her flat stomach feeling his and her life fused together in a miraculous creation.

She imagined her round belly and then an empty crib, and sobbed. She felt the beads of water on her skin from the waterfall. She tasted Ben's kisses, not because she had already been with him in this life. He tasted the same; his plump lips felt the same; his scent and hair and eyes… all she venerated in this life felt exactly the same in the dream.

Rey put two fingers at her wrist. No – she didn't die and slip into some kind of afterlife. Her heart was still beating and she drew breath for which she still didn't care. How could that pass, then? Did Kylo Ren conjure another evil trick up his sleeve? Did he cause this vision to lure her back to him?

The rich orange hue of dawn wouldn't disturb her; only the gust of wet air pulled her out of her reverie. She dressed in dark gray leggings and tunic and put on black knee-length boots. She plaited her hair hastily into a side braid and clipped her lightsaber. She came to hate the weapon. Every brush past the handle made her think of the red crystal she had fought Luke to have; the one illuminating Ren's face in the cave on Lothal.

She loathed it; and if attacked, she would have probably gotten killed because she couldn't bear to touch it. She was walking at the cusp of a new day, alone across the courtyard where the new galactic regime rose. The morning silence was the best kind of silence – one couldn't wonder why they were so alone. At night, the loneliness hurt. The nights were for the lovers, not lonely weeping creatures. In the morning, no one abandoned Rey, they were just sleeping. Not all, though, she thought as she passed a group of children poking a lizard with a stick.

She shuddered.

One child was missing from that merry group; one slave girl she failed to save. Her boots crunched the wet sand, and the wind carried water. She hugged herself to still her shaking body. She nearly tripped on a brick because she wasn't looking left. She would never look left, even if she was to fall down that precipice again. The crashed Star Destroyer had been buried in the sand west from there; its tip split the ground in two. The hull rested bent in nearly right angle.

Not even in the headquarters could she escape its shadow. Why did they have to build the glass panels so large? Normal people lived inside the building of concrete, so they wouldn't have to look outside. Not those grand politicians, of course. Those built glass castles to show ordinary people that they were above them. It was façade of accessibility. Citizens could look, but not touch. They saw the transparency of their new leaders just as their eyes could see behind those glass windows. Lie; it was all a lie.

Rey was climbing up the steps when familiar beeping stopped her on the second floor plateau.

"BeeBee, where's your friend?" Rey asked.

If BeeBee rolled around here, Poe wouldn't be far behind. The door to the neighboring office opened and Rey's mouth dropped.

Poe Dameron sneaked out clutching his shoes in his right hand and leather belt between his teeth. He was closing the handle one millimeter at a time, till it clicked and Poe turned. The second he spotted Rey, the belt fell from his mouth.

"Reeey! What are you doing here at this wee morning hour?" He leaned on the doorframe casually. "Me, I was just… there was just something I was helping with and…" He leaned left, then right, blocking her view when Rey tried to peek behind the door. BeeBee purred and spluttered. Its ball shaped body crashed into Poe's legs.

"All right, all right. Enough BeeBee; I get it. I know you have better things to do than keeping watch. Not that you did a good job at that," he snorted. "If I had known, I would have practiced my walk of shame better."

Rey was still merely gaping at both. This morning couldn't be more disparate; first the dream and now, this comedy. She finally found her voice again. "Helping, right. Got it. No, it's fine. You don't have to explain to me. It's not like I've never…helped anyone before." Her cheek caught aflame after she realized what had slipped her tongue.

"Awkward," he laughed nervously.

Poe and Rey would have both rather had given free tour of Korriban Sith tombs, than standing here, discussing that particular subject.

"Anyway," Rey emphasized her not so smooth attempt at a change of topic. "I was looking for you. Where's Finn? I need you both. I need your help."

"Finn? I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Come," he flung his arm around her shoulder. "Let's grab a bite. He'll find us at breakfast."

The mess room was completely empty, save for two domestic C-class droids heating large containers of porridge. Steam was rising form the heating tubes and Rey's hair curled and puckered in that humid environment. She nibbled on the porridge, but her mind floated elsewhere. Finn strolled in half an hour later and joined them with a tray filled to the brim.

"Well? What do you need us for?" Poe asked with mouth full of crisp bacon. "Don't forget, we can't just do anything now. I'm the head of the new Airforce and this good natured fellow here," he nudged Finn," is the chief of the Army." He was teasing her.

Rey pushed her bowl away. "Oh, yes. I forgot you're so important. Shut up and listen. I need you to pilot a shuttle to the orbit and get me to that First Order Star Destroyer; the one Resistance keeps locked up."

"OK." Poe raised his eyebrow. "Let me start with the most obvious question – why? Also, it's _locked_. Even if I could get you there- which I won't," he added quickly," the whole system operates from the ground. We can bang at the door, but the hangar won't open for us. If we're lucky, we'll tuck out tail between our legs and fly back. If we're not lucky, some eager Resistance newbie pilot shoots us down, mistaken for the Order spies. Also – again – _why_ would you want to get there?"

Finn and Poe were looking at her as if she grew a second head. They were used to her quirkiness and passionate displays of emotion, but this trumped it all.

Rey leaned closer and whispered. "I need something from there."

"What?" Finn leaned as well.

"A map."

"A map?" Poe joined their small conspiracy circle, forgetting his bacon altogether.

"I can't tell you more, but trust me – you wouldn't want that map getting into wrong hands. I need to retrieve it and destroy it. Besides, I can get us inside." She rolled up her sleeve and showed them very faded bluish hue on her skin; the coordinates Hux had scribbled onto it.

"Mueee, goo, feee, fae, or is it five?"Poe upturned his head. "Is this gibberish supposed to mean something?"

"It's faded, now, but BeeBee has the sequence scanned. It's an algorithm which makes the ship's main computer fully operational again. The Order programmed it, and I can guarantee it works. So?"

Poe narrowed his eyes and aimed his fork at her. "Hang on. Since when do _you_ need a pilot, anyway? You can fly anything."

"All right, I admit. Not a pilot – I need a backup."

"I would hope so, deliberately going back to a ghost ship of evil."Finn leaned back. "So, we're risking our lives for…"

"…for Rey." Poe's eyes twinkled. "We'll do it. If she's asking, it must be important."

Rey's throat constricted. "It's not for me. Trust me, the whole Galaxy can sleep easier once that map is gone. But thank you. I really appreciate your help, big deals." She smiled thinking of Han Solo and his epic eyeroll. They were all too young for the responsibilities bestowed upon their shoulders. The very fact they found a rare moment for jokes and friendly teasing seemed like a miracle, after what they'd been through.

They waited till dusk settled on Korriban and then grabbed the piece of night sky in a Class B escort shuttle Poe had signed off for 'rogue droid inspection.' The lock placed on the ship was the equivalent of a chain, only electronic. Star Destroyer of _Interdictor_ class, shaped like dagger with several domed copulas, had been lingering obediently on the orbit. The domes enabled their shuttle to tie-in without going through the massive hangars at the keel. Rey slid thin plasma rectangle into the door port. It contained the code sequence she got from Hux. Destroyer's computer didn't take more than three seconds to assess the binary code and let them in.

One by one, they slid through a narrow tunnel right into the bowels of the ship. Their jumps echoed in the cave which was in fact the main corridor of the northern sector. They didn't disturb any dust with their feet, because nothing lived there. Rey felt an eerie sensation crawl around her ankles, as if she walked in a dense jungle of Rakata again, despite shuffling on the polished obsidian floor. She heard a whisper, a soft wail that no one else caught.

"Where the hell to, now?" Finn asked. They suffered massive sensory overload, despite being blind and deaf.

Sterile environment didn't smell. It had no stench, no shape, no light and no echo, except their loud breathing. That's why their inner ear tried to compensate and pressurize their motor function to give them a sense of direction. They felt as if they were being floated into empty space; weightless, even with feet planted deep on the ground.

"If you want maps, we need to get to the analyst cabin. We used to store navigation data in the analysts' main computer." Finn took the lead. He was mimicking the moves of a fish out of water. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to get his jaw pop his ear. Poe hung back with Rey, who couldn't keep her head up. She was walking bowed down, sliding her hands on the steel corridor walls.

 _Rey…Rey…_ the murmur shut her eyes.

"What?"She asked.

"Nothing," Poe raised his eyebrow. "No one said anything."

No one called her name, she reasoned with herself. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"It's the pressure… take deep breaths and your brain will compensate. Just take it easy," Finn whispered to her. Even if they were alone, no one dared to raise their voice.

"Well, damn," Poe's hand shot to the wall, as he propped himself. The hull careened under invisible force. The sound of hard pressed metal permeated every nuke and cranny of the destroyer. "What was that?" he asked, dropping his usually buoyant façade.

What started as a few glances for the source of the commotion had ripened into full blown panic.

"Must be the gravitational waves pulling us down a bit." Finn blurted out first implausible theory that popped into his brain.

"Breathe," Rey kept repeating to herself," breathing is the thing you need to master now." All she had to do was to get to the end of that mile long corridor. Then, her heart might stop biting her ribcage and her world would stop spinning. "Only half way more, only ten more minutes." She was paying attention to her surroundings. Every neon tube counted as a milestone, every ridge of metal meant one step closer to their destination.

"I would have helped you, but…" She didn't let Poe finish and slapped his hand. He had his own ton of sand to carry now. Finally, the corridor ended in a wide automatic door, which weren't so automatic now, with the shut down main system.

Rey gritted her teeth and punched the code in manually, again.

"Get me to the outer rim galactic charts, as well as uncharted territories." She sat down on the swivel chair. Finn was working on the computer while Poe rested with a drawn blaster. She didn't question those echoes only she had heard anymore. She kept her poise cool, but secretly spun her head around to find the one calling her.

Images started flashing in her mind; visions of kneeling Kylo Ren. She stood up and walked back to the corridor. Poe and Finn were discussing something on the screen, so she sneaked out alone. Her legs carried her to the very next section of the ship, a hologram chamber which would be more precisely described as a hologram cathedral.

She saw him kneeling in front of a throne made of thorns. Rumbles seized the chamber, as if metal wheels crossed the iron rails. Rey stretched her arms to keep balance, but the rumble knocked her off her feet.

She found herself on the floor, but when she raised her head, she wasn't alone. There was a throne, carrying a king, as every throne must. The posture, the robes, the regal and aura of menace would have scared her more, if she wasn't looking in the eyes of Kylo Ren.

"I can't. I don't…I don't understand."

"I'm not him."

Rey felt as if she stepped in to the pond of cold water when she heard his voice. No, he wasn't him.

"You're Snoke…you're dead." She said quickly, as if needing reassurance he wouldn't harm her.

"I never lived. That's not my name, although the body I inhabited did carry it." Kylo's eyes didn't look at her; they looked _through_ her. "Do you understand, now?"

"Yes. He thinks you're still alive; you're still poisoning his mind. How did you do it?"

"He's not quite there yet, but he's not far. He'll be ready soon. You're to thank for that, child of the dark side. It couldn't have worked out better if I forced him. I'm old as the stars in the galaxy. I've suffered so much for this, I sacrificed lives and planets for the power which no one else wielded before."

 _He's not human_ , Rey's legs felt like casts at the thought. She should have run back to Finn, but she couldn't. The very presence of something so unnatural and twisted intrigued her. He wasn't a spirit, but not a flesh. He was neither man nor beast, neither dead, nor alive.

What was he?

It felt strange, speaking to that void shaped as Kylo Ren. His face looked identical, every mole, every mark was at the precise spot where she had traced them before. The shape of his brow ridge, his deep set eyes – everything had been burnt into her memory. His charcoal hair and broad shoulders didn't invite her in, though. This was a cold, harsh carbon copy of the original.

He left the throne behind and approached her. Rey flinched. "Don't be afraid. I won't harm you. I'll need you once this body can no longer serve its purpose."

Rey saw a mosaic of faces, old and young, alien and human, all roaring in rage and pain, all dead and gone now.

"That's it, then? You're just a parasite jumping form one Force user to another, until their bodies can't contain you? You were Darth Plagueis…and Snoke…you…"

"There is not a name you could call me. Now, my experiment came to a close." His black orbs scanned her face. She scrutinized his. She knew immediately not a single thread of Kylo's soul was looking at her through his eyes. That gaze, that intensity with which he usually drank her in, was missing.

"Is that why you groomed him from the infancy? You picked him as a child to grow strong in the dark side and then, serve you as a body bag?"

Fury got hold of her.

"I created my 'body bag', as you call it." He spoke slowly. "He grew up as slave on Tattooine; he should have become great. Unfortunately, his injuries made him into a machine barely able to contain his spirit, let alone mine. So, I waited, until next in his line was born and I knew I had what I needed. It had to be his bloodline, not other. Loss opened a wound in him, a wound which will help finish my goal."

"When?"

"When he fully gives himself to the dark side. When he purges all doubt from his soul."

She thought he was talking about Ben Solo. She couldn't be more wrong.

"He killed his father for you, and thousands of innocent people. How much darker do you need him to be?"

"It's not the act, but the intent. He needn't have killed his weak fool of a father. I saw right away he never meant it."

Rey's shoulders trembled. "Why are you telling me this? Why tell me the truth, when you were lying to Ben all those years? I'll never give in; you'll never tempt me."

"Because," he leaned so close his hair brushed her cheeks. She almost believed he was Kylo. She wanted to believe. "You need to know. You need to understand the choice that lies ahead and make it willingly."

He planted a vision in her mind; he spoke to her in words of primordial chaos, in long vibrations and frequencies. She traveled through the star dust and galaxies which no longer existed. They've long burnt out, cast into outer darkness, forever travelling the universe like embers from the put out fire.

He wasn't talking about Ben Solo. He didn't want his body. He didn't want hers.

"It's Luke…It's always been about Luke Skywalker." She clutched her chest.

She would have rather ripped her heart out, than know. This abomination was using Ben to draw the dark side out of Luke. He failed the first time, when Luke took mercy on Darth Vader. Then, second time, Luke chose exile, rather than vengeance. Now, she came onto the scene and brought Luke back to the fight. She replayed all those conversations when he urged her to kill Kylo Ren.

 _"_ _You must have the strength to do something I didn't. You must have the strength to kill him…"_

Luke couldn't kill his father; and then, he couldn't kill his nephew. So, Snoke latched onto Ben Solo, tempted and prodded him to the darkness, orchestrating perfect scenario of betrayal. Luke Skywalker should have killed his nephew. He would have succumbed to the dark side, and he would have been finally free to host this spirit. Ben Solo's blood was diluted, not pure enough. It contained only half of the Anakin Skywalker lineage; the other was of an inconsequential smuggler; an insult to the demigods of the Galaxy.

"I failed, when that fool Skywalker lowered his weapon and disappeared to exile. Ben Solo was too weak, so I molded him into Kylo Ren. But he too, teetered on the edge most of the time, never fully giving in. He met you, then, and the light called to him. You ruined it even more, with your false hopes and warm body."

His eyes glided to her moist lips, the vein on her slim neck, and her supple breasts. He remained unaffected; as if he needed to see what steered Ren from his course. Kylo's eyes were burning at the sight of her curves - his felt cold.

" _We're hunting him…Kylo Ren disappeared, but not for long. We're hunting him and when we get him, there's only one outcome for my nephew, and you and him being together isn't him."_

Rey had it all in her grasp, all the clues she needed to see the big picture. Ben had told her many times, how much he loathed his family, how he would kill Luke. Luke repeated how essential it was to kill Ren, just as often. They were both spiraling into madness, when they should have done the exact opposite.

Ren's double gently pressed his palms into her temples. She creased her forehead and placed her hands on top of his, desperate to feel his skin again, even if it wasn't his body or his soul. She would have traded a minute with real Ben, instead of lifetime with this soulless replica.

Rey took a deep breath. She heard that primal voice again, explaining everything.

"Only when the Skywalker bloodline tastes the darkness, and turns back, can the Force achieve balance. Thousands of years of the Sith and the Jedi have come down to two opponents, joined by blood, not by bond.

They are the light and the dark; they are hope and destruction. Uncle can't kill his nephew; and the nephew mustn't kill his uncle. Whoever raises a lightsaber against his blood, will fall and serve me forever. It had never been about crushing the darkness, as the Jedi foolishly believed. They were never going to win, because they never tried. You have to try; you have to dip your fingers in that immense power which flows from unbridled hate, anger, passion, and lust.

No one can avoid being tempted.

You can feel the power of the dark side, use it and channel it, but not succumb to it fully. Once you master the temptation; once you step back and decide _not to use it_ – that's when the Galaxy sings the purest melody and the Force shall set you free. Jedi and Sith had a policy – there's no turning back, not to light, not to dark. How wrong they were. It's all about turning back from what you desire the most.

That turn is the key.

It's not enough to refuse. Only if you experience and _then_ refuse, can you master the Force. Not one side is right or wrong, not one dogma prevails in the furnace that is the center of creation. The Force creates and destroys. It's both life and death, it gives birth to a star, only to heat it infinitely and destroy it after millions of years. "

His hands, which cradled her head, had to still her quivering body. She was trembling, falling into point from whence all came.

"Force is not a religion," image of Jedi temple flashed in her mind.

"Force is not a means to revenge," image of great Sith wars attacked her.

"Force is about choice and the one who makes the right one is awarded beyond wildest dreams," image of Luke and Kylo crossing their lightsabers forced her to her knees. He knelt with her.

"You see? That choice is yours," he leaned closer and burnt her earlobe with his breath. "Which one would you sacrifice? Your master or your lover? The one fighting for the dark side or the light? "

"What do I have to do with this?" She panted helplessly. "Why do I get to choose?"

"Because _you stepped back_. You took that turn from both – the dark side and the light. You want nothing to do with the Force. You have fought tooth and nail to reject the power surging through you since you were born. You were tempted to lead the First Order, and you managed to turn away. You were offered to become a next grand Jedi master – you refused that, too. If there's indeed light and dark, you are the line which separates them in the middle."

"Then… then I choose to destroy _you_." She cried out, as if the scream would truly vaporize this creature on the spot. If she was the line, she could do it – right? His hot breath sent shivers up her spine.

"That, my sweet, you can't. You and I are opposite. If you're a keeper of balance, I am the one who gives you reason to keep it. Someone has to sway for the scales to be useful. Someone has to tempt, for the other to resist. We give each other reason to exist, Rey."

Rey's eyes flew open, as he kept his hands locked around her body.

"It'll never happen." She spoke to his hair; in embrace with death itself. "It'll not come to pass. I will do everything in my power to prevent it."

"You may try, girl who fights too much, and listens too little. You may try…" he said and faded into opaque mist in several torturous beats. Sun was the Moon, and the lies were the truth.

* * *

 **A/N Big scale of things finally revealed. Tptb stated that Rey is a character important for the entire galaxy - this is my take on it.**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

* * *

"Reeeeey….Reeeyyy.."

"I'm here, I'm up," she darted up so quickly, she almost bumped into Finn's forehead. The consciousness didn't come to her in stages, like before. She knew at once what had come to pass, whether in this reality or in her head.

Finn steadied her arms."Careful, you better lie down again. Take a breather. Here, come; lie down next to our hero." He reclined her back on the polished floor, besides equally queasy looking Poe.

"Hey – I didn't faint." He said.

"No, you just slumped down like a sack of potatoes. Delicious, butter baked potatoes," dreamy look accompanied sound of Finn's grumbling stomach.

"What happened to him"? Rey asked.

"The same thing that brought down you, I presume – the pressure got to him. You shouldn't have wandered off alone, you could have hit your head, or fall down a shaft. When you're feeling better, come to the computer and tell me which maps we need to delete."

Rey was controlling her breaths next to Poe, who was clutching his ears. Streamlet of blood smeared his lower jaw. They were suffering because of her. If she didn't stall, they would have been gone by now.

"That's it," she hoisted herself up."We're going to get out of here. Finn, take me to the main computer. Potatoes – you rest. We're out of here in no time." She squeezed Poe's hand and dragged after Finn.

Finn moved red joystick and entered some digits, or words – he did something to the thing which caused the maps spring into life. Rey's eyes fluttered, jumping frantically from one to another. In one fluid sweep, Finn scooped them from the flat screen and threw them into air. Both friends were standing in the middle of a turquoise sea of stars, clusters, and infinitesimal bleeping dots which represented man made satellites.

Rey's rubber soles were leaving skid marks on the obsidian floor, she was reeling around, trying to absorb it all in.

Looking at the maps hurt. The maps were fractals of the future which shattered like a glass; the maps would forever remain unreachable, a fantasy for which she paid dearly.

"Tingel arm," Finn pointed at a milky concave in the middle. "There you have the Hydian Way, here's southern frontier of Outer Rim, and if you go there," he approached the last one," you see charts reaching far into deep space. Mostly fables, though. It's not reliable, so I guess it's this one you need."

He flipped his palm upwards and the densest model landed neatly on it.

Star light reflected in Rey's eyes; deep pools of amber changed into blue. "Finn, I need all the maps which reach into the Unknown regions; all uncharted territories, all would-be trade routes, all there is to get about the furthest corners of the Galaxy."

Finn threw his arms in the air and like a conductor of Galactic Opera, he diverted them into the center of the room. "Here, thirteen plans, and one topographical chart of Chiss Ascendancy." He gazed at awe-struck Rey. "You ever wondered why all those empires and republics never crossed beyond?"

Rey nodded.

"Here," he took her finger and traced nebulae so dense; it resembled crushed chalk on the pavement. "It's called the _Tangle_. Whoever tried to cross, encountered a set of hyperspace anomalies, so significant, only few ever embarked on that fool's quest again. Entire fleets vanished; the data got erased once transmitted to the Coruscanti naval headquarters, from the computers so secured, everyone believed it was sabotage."

Rey closed her fingers around the mist. She pursed her lips and let out a long breath, blowing the star dust like a cotton wad. "What do you think caused it? The anomaly…"

Finn scratched his neck.

"Could be dark matter, black hole, some say the gravity caused a ripple in time and space, forever hindering explorers from going out of the edge. The fact remains, we can't navigate through hyperspace there, the systems crash, the electronics goes haywire." He snorted. "Others are convinced that a great civilization beyond our galaxy built a barrier to keep us out. Who knows, really?"

He sat back behind the computer and swiveled on a chair with legs raised in the air, like a little kid. "But Rey – it doesn't matter if we erase these maps, or not. I assure you, these can be found in any standard holo library in the galaxy. There's nothing special about them, whoever finds them, can do so elsewhere." He didn't sound disappointed, but tired because they wasted a journey here, into this metal coffin in need of decompression.

"No, they're special. We don't see it, but someone did. For them, these are the key, these are worth risking their life for." She whispered, feeling the rain on her lips, the mud under her feet, the power of the anger she gave into. All from that night came haunting her back.

Closing the Force bond with Kylo felt like losing an intrinsic part of her own being. It wasn't about missing a heartbeat. When two became one, the bond made them immortal, and yet so vulnerable. It pushed them together, but peace further apart.

They were the storm which turned on itself.

Why did they even wonder where the destruction came from? It came from within, as the one bore the imprint of the other in the very fabric of their soul. If one died, the spirit would tear the veil in pursuit of their other half. At least that's what old holocrons said; when Rey sought them out in the ancient temples of Korriban.

She missed him, plain and simple.

Rey longed to feel what he felt, even if it was the same emptiness which coursed through her. She would have taken one wave of sorrow after the other, if they only came from him. The mind protested, the heart ached, but the bond eclipsed them both. They hurt each other so much, so deeply, that the tears would be an insult to that pain. That's why she no longer cried; that's why she didn't regret. She deconstructed what they did to each other in her mind; each word that had been said, each punch thrown their way, like symptoms of a fatal disease.

If she opened the bond, she wouldn't have to, because his voice would tell her all she needed to hear. Kylo's state of mind must have been less than sound, now, she didn't doubt that. If her regret left her paralyzed for days, his must have driven him mad.

The trio of explorers docked the ship on Korriban.

"I feel like I've been vacationing in the blender the whole night," Poe sighed.

Rey only vaguely thanked them for help, which they dismissed quickly, happy to skip long speeches. They were relieved to get out of the orbit and back to the cantina. Rey's legs carried her down to the wide sand valley of the Sith tombs. The vast orange dunes eased that claustrophobic feeling form the Star Destroyer. She was chanting an incantation in her mind, calling for Snoke, or however that spirit was called.

Nothing happened.

Then, she tried calling Ren's name – she pictured the mechanic replica, not the real Ben Solo. Still, she received not a whisper for an answer. She was rummaging the crypts; one after another, without any real intent. She would avoid the Great Sith temple, though, unable to bear the memories connected to that place. The scavenger in her knew no pain like this, despite many days of hunger, and bruises and cuts. So, she became a scavenger again. She blew the dust off of a chipped vase, and then threw it away when she found nothing interesting about it.

She picked up a javelin, broken in two, resting on the pile of discarded Sith artifacts. She twirled the spear in one hand, and transparent plasma rectangle in her pocket in the other.

"Why did you make a copy, when you'll never see him again?" She asked, out loud. She vowed to keep as far away from Ren as possible; not for her sake, but to prevent that terrible future the spirit spoke of. She never planned on telling Luke; ever.

The line kept balance? Fine, but the line would never be crossed. She had to keep Luke and Kylo apart, better yet, on the opposite sides of the Galaxy.

"Perhaps he's smart enough to avoid a couple of our squadrons. But he won't elude us forever, Rey."

"Gaaah," Rey nearly impaled herself on the spear as she tripped over the gravestone. "What the …Master, I didn't hear you coming. What are you doing here?" She immediately hid the pointy weapon behind her back, like a naughty child. The absurdity of the whole situation dawned on her, so she let it drop into sand.

Luke's silver eyes twinkled. "You know that playing with those can be dangerous, right?" He swayed casually towards her.

Yeah – she definitely felt like a child, now. "Ibasjsut…I was just looking." She raised her chin. "

In some ways, this was an exchange between father and a daughter. He loved her as his own, and she would have sacrificed her love for Ben to keep her Master safe.

"Then, don't. Sith were legendary for their quest for immortality. They often managed to tear their soul apart and with the help of the dark side, infuse an object with their life force; watching, waiting to come back again." He picked up the spear and skimmed the blade with his thumb. "What a shame, to waste one's life on death, when the promise of it is the only sure thing we have."

They didn't pretend that Master couldn't access padawan's thoughts. Luke knew right away what bothered her.

"Please, Rey, tell me the truth."

At that moment, the gravity in the tomb shifted.

Two threads in the air spread in the opposite direction. Embark on one, and the truth would strengthen them forever. Choose the second, and harm him in lies. She could lie to Luke Skywalker. But then, he would be losing another apprentice to the whispers of that evil spirit. Help never came to Ben, because no one suspected he needed it. Snoke snatched Ben's innocence, because he convinced the boy that their secrets made him special, that secrets kept them safe. Rey wanted to keep hers, but she realized it wasn't the right thing to do.

She saw those threads intersect into one – the right one. She furrowed her brows. Perhaps she really was a line, separating two of the same bloodline, capable of choosing the right path where they strayed.

Rey held his hand and sat them down on the stone sarcophagus. Eyes with the specks of green found the silver, and they told Luke everything. She was watching her Master bend down under weight of her words. She was speaking of the moment the Force bonded them on Starkiller base, about the caves on Lothal, about the kiss on Rakata. He saw their bond through her eyes. She described their mission on Korriban, and how inseparable her and Ben's paths had become. Luke saw him looking at her; his nephew possessed by love which created and destroyed at the same time.

Once she painted her last encounter with him, Luke pushed back and stopped the flow of images. "Come closer," he sighed.

"Why?"

"Because I want to lift what shields you from Ben. There is no need for you to be hidden anymore."

He gently contoured the shape of her face with his hand. She didn't feel any different – that was it? She expected Ben's voice, or an instant vision of him calling her name. Instead, she got silence; sad static of the sound of her own voice.

"Did it work?"

"Oh, yes. It worked." Luke smiled.

"Master, now that I told you everything…I have a question for you." She shuddered, as hundred prepared versions of it just tangled at her tongue. "When Hux showed me those holocrons, my mother spoke of Lor San Tekka. I was thinking about him for so long, that I have to ask – did you know him? Did he ever mention anything about me, as a child? Was it him who left me on Jakku?"

She hoped the plea sounded indifferent, instead of the real chaotic urge to know she felt inside. Luke's lead gaze didn't help to relax.

Rey bit her lip. "I thought you might, since he was a member of the Church of the Force, and you are connected to them and…"

Luke wanted to say yes. He finally wanted to be cleansed of that stigma. He wronged her more than anyone in his life, when he refused that little bundle; handed to him as an offering.

 _"_ _As you wish, Luke Skywalker. Remember this day, though. You don't want to train her as a Jedi - so be it. But I swear that she shall wield a lightsaber one day. Don't be surprised when you meet its fiery end."_

San Tekka's prophecy haunted him. Not a single day passed, that he wouldn't think of her life, had he taken her and trained her. Back then, he saw only the shroud weaved from the dark side. He failed to see behind the veil. He feared she was far too gone, that the baby was tainted and beyond help. Nothing clean ever came from poisonous blood.

Best not to train her, the Emperor's granddaughter; best pretend she never existed. Only when he heard her climbing those steps on Ach-To, he realized his destiny was coming back to him. Her wide eyes trusted him, implicitly. Her soft hands were resting in his, daughter's gesture for the man unworthy to be her teacher, let alone a father.

Luke wanted to say yes, to give her closure and be at her mercy. Luke wanted to say yes, and endure her righteous wrath. Luke wanted to say yes, but instead, he heard his mouth say, "No. I'm sorry, but I didn't know Lor San Tekka. I knew of him, from the tales of others, and I know he was on a mission on Jakku, but that is all."

Dark clouds congregated in Luke's mind.

Something in the Force shifted as he said those words – Rey felt it too. Her head dropped. The answer she longed for wasn't coming. She was no closer to that ultimate truth she had been trying to piece together from snippets.

"Thank you, Master. I know I'm trying too hard, thinking too much. Thank you for being honest with me." She smiled and Luke felt sick of her innocence, of her purity, of her gratitude given to him for a bunch of lies.

The Jedi Master never knew, that this was the moment which determined the future of the entire Galaxy. When she left the tombs, Luke started meditating and praying for the advice which came to him before. None of his old Masters heard his plea. If they did, they decided not to come. When new answers didn't come, he kept replaying the old. Suddenly, he was back on Ach-To; sitting on a slab of stone and talking to old Ben Kenobi, only young and more alive in ghost form than ever.

 _"_ _You must tell her the truth of her birth."_

 _"_ _It will poison her. The knowledge where she came from and who her family is will corrupt her, I know it."_

 _"_ _She must know. Otherwise, the seed of doubt will grow stronger in the future. She will suffer for it."_

Luke trembled. Since the very first week when Rey found him, he questioned the merit of these words. Every time he was about to pull her aside and reveal he had refused her as a baby, he faltered.

"It is too late," he reprimanded himself. "She doesn't need to know. She doesn't need to relive those years of solitude you sentenced her to. Leave the past to rest."

He was paralyzed by fear, which grew stronger with time. He should have told her, back then. As the time passed, it became harder and harder. The secrets started piling up like a snowball in an avalanche. Then, he kept another from her, when she fell on Korriban. That one secret paved way for all others, because he convinced himself it was for her own good.

"Sir, she's bleeding. There is nothing we can do, only put her to sleep and clean the womb. Our medical droids can provide assistance, if she wanted to bury the…"

"No." Luke's hand passed in front of healer's face."She will never know. You won't mention it, neither will droids. Erase the memory slots."

He couldn't tell her she lost a child. She would have died of grief, like Padmé, his mother. She would have blamed herself for the fall, not Ren, who drove her to it in the first place.

Now, on top of everything, he had to go against his own nephew. Heavy was his burden, when he was the only one still willing to do what must be done. Leia, for all her talk about Kylo Ren being too far gone, sighed with relief when he fled Korriban. He didn't share his sister's relief. He wouldn't wish her witnessing Ren's death. But it was inevitable, like that storm which accompanied lowering of shields.

Luke's great work was almost done.

He ordered Poe Dameron to track star systems where Order found the raw materials for their chemical weapons. He was pacing the headquarters with lowered head and heavy mind. He was tending to the slaves to distract himself while waiting. Some decided to stay on Korriban and rebuilt their society, when their worlds no longer existed. Luke had to fight his nephew – not against his family, but for those worlds. The first to go was Ryoone; but a piece of barren rock in the outer rim.

"We would have never suspected anything, if an illegal smuggler hive didn't send a distress signal to a nearby satellite. By the time help arrived, it was too late. The rescue mission couldn't even land; the oxygen tanks of their ships drew in the fumes." Admiral Ackbar reported what all in the newly formed Concordat feared.

The terrain was riddled with horde of chemical attack droids, like a pincushion jabbed with needles. Animals died first, and then what little flora that planed had, withered, too. People died screaming, their veins turned blue and purple; the last sight they beheld was rivers of blood filling their sockets. Bestiality of the First Order manifested itself in that attack – everyone lost the planet; the populace living there, the Galactic Concordat, and even the First Order.

Chemical attack rendered it uninhabitable for decades; so why would they do it? That rock in the middle of nowhere, no good to anybody, was the greatest symbol of what the First Order stood for. They were testing their methods at all costs, always trying to push the limits further, always rule many and take more. When one planet yielded, they needed two. When a star system opened their trade routes, they snatched their entire fleets and imposed taxes. Destroying Hossnian Prime was only an envoy of what would come.

How many would perish, if he didn't stop Kylo Ren? Rey would see… in time, she would understand. His life changed in a sequence of ten digit coordinates which Dameron showed him.

"Malastare, the pride of Mid Rim. Entire industry, except some podracing circuits, is focused on their gas refineries and oil stations."

"We're not going in officially." Jedi Master rubbed his hands together. "I need to get there and see first. If I feel Ren's presence in the Force, I will fight. If not, we'll settle a small com centre and wait."

Poe almost moaned, like a discontent child. He had his fair share of dealings with Kylo Ren. Last thing he desired was another round of their mental sparring – in his case, the torture. "Luke, I don't agree with this."

"Good thing no one asked you to, son. I need a pilot, and a medium sized ship. Leave the rest to me."

"Rey…"

Luke's features hardened, as if chiseled in stone. "Rey will not know. She will not even suspect, understood? I don't want to take her. I know you two are as thick as thieves, but you will not tell her."

Luke waved his index finger dangerously close to Poe's face. The best pilot in the new republic gulped; staring cross-eyed at that finger. "Skywalker, don't use your Jedi mind tricks on me. All right, I won't tell her."

He clasped his throat as Luke withdrew. After being mind-tortured, he detested any sign of unnatural abilities of these strange, mystic people.

"I won't tell her," he murmured towards Luke's retreating back. "But I can't guarantee she won't find out by herself."

* * *

 **A/N Next chap is it, folks, the meeting with capital M. I'm curious how the hell their reunion will go. And Luke - finally, their very first encounter with Rey comes to play here. We're all human, we all make mistakes. Damn, I'm so burnt out rn. I wrote 85k in a month, I'm sort of happy with myself that this story captivates me to continue, and also you all wonderful people. I love you all. 3 P.S for those who asked - I imply stormpilot here, a lot. Yes, Poe was leaving Finn's company.**


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

* * *

While before he numbed his feelings in wakefulness, now, he did very little besides sleep. Ren hoped to see that vision again. He would have outlasted the Force and slept for a decade if it raised the odds of seeing it. The machine which he was bound to needed him; and he still carried out his duties from the distance. But the vision – that became his personal mission, a project upon which depended his sanity.

Keeping up the appearances while inspecting droid production wasn't difficult. Commander Bridger had set a course for Malastare; a forested mid rim world. It contained the vast gas reserves which the Order needed to suffuse the droids. And what the Order needed; it simply took.

"They call themselves Galactic Concordat – can you believe it?" Bridger steepled his fingers. "To think their self-righteous boots are desecrating Sith legacy…You can't remember, of course, but I trained under a Sith Lord; one of the last of his kind."

That information didn't impress Kylo Ren. In fact, very little did. Bridger's cobalt eyes had been watching him for some time. His fascination with that awkward, pale boy found no limits. He knew of the Sith of old, who were a Wound in the Force. They became the intent of death, rather than a man who killed of his own will. Ren's intensity eclipsed even that. He kept to himself most of the time; immersed in silent reverie; much like those foolish Jedi who meditated on the importance of the Universe. He didn't eat much, but when he did, the very notion of need for sustenance bothered him.

He was haunting the observation deck of their ship, looking out of the glass panels into empty space. He paced a few times, but not as far as to miss certain space events, like solar alignment of three planets in the Javin system.

While standing there, dark, clad in simple coarse robes, he towered even over the planets and stars. He hungered for something, someone…

 _Lord of Hunger_ , Bridger called him in his mind. Almost as if nothing in the existence silenced that yearning. Bridger commanded Hux before, and from his reports, he never would have guessed _this_ was the Master of the Knights of Ren. Hux and Ren didn't see eye to eye, and he knew why.

One Ren's stare determined if the person was worthy of his time. If not, he drew a lightsaber and moved on to that something he was hungry for. Bridger saw him talking to the empty air on several occasions. The night fell on the star destroyer, as much as the charade of night could while flying through dark, cold space. Ren was kneeling in front of nothing; but paying attention as if he was watching the birth of a supernova.

"…and yet, when I tasked you with killing him, your hand wavered."

"I know," he bowed down his head.

"You see now, that not only Skywalker deserves his death; the Force demands it!"

"I know, Supreme Leader. I was weak and foolish. Was it real? Could it still…" Ren's voice trembled.

"Could is still come to pass? Stop wasting time on childish fantasies, my Apprentice. It was as real as this reality, but as far from it as birth from death. You can't live what never came to pass – and it never will."

Kylo had to suppress an embarrassing sob; so unbecoming of the god of death. He dug his nails deep into his thigh. "Skywalker's to blame…for everything."

"I am glad to see you come to reason. You know what to do, then."

"I'll kill him." The struggle when he had to take his father's life still stole nights' worth of sleep. But now, he felt no remorse. Now, that he wouldn't kill his uncle just because Snoke commanded it, his resolve doubled. He would kill him for Rey and himself; for that dream he destroyed. Ren stopped pitying himself a long time ago. He didn't blame Luke for letting him turn to the dark side. He always knew what he was doing, conscious of that scar he had branded himself with the moment he agreed to Snoke's teachings.

The moment he accepted his master, he accepted the consequences. But the blame for that lost vision – that lied entirely with Luke.

"Tell me, how to get to him?"

"I sense you're anxious to take his life. Don't be hasty, though. Time and place of your last encounter has already been long prophesized."

Kylo shifted.

Was it last for him, or Luke? Two would meet, but only one would emerge alive. "Master, I fear my strength has diminished. The Force betrayed me. I can't feel the life force of a human. I know that person is alive - they must be. Yet, I can't feel it. I need you to show me the ways of the dark side; I know that with those powers, I will succeed."

"Stop speaking in riddles. You don't feel the girl…that woman who pitted you against me on Rakata. I know why…" Tendons in the gash of Snoke's hologram writhed in his attempt for a vicious grin. Things could not have gone better if he had planned it himself. "Skywalker shielded her form you. He cloaked her in the light, bathed her in energy too bright for you, too pure for your current state of mind."

Snoke felt Kylo's heart tremble like a mountain. He devastated him even more. He no longer hated his uncle, he hated himself for not killing him when he had the chance.

"Master… " Kylo didn't waste time celebrating the fact that Rey was alive. "Can you help me feel her presence? I beg you." He bowed further to the ground, if it was even possible. His breath condensed on the polished floor.

Snoke knew that when it came to Ren, his pupil differed from the others. He would sacrifice his ambition at the altar of his family, his brethren, all but _her_. Never in his long existence had Snoke found such a remarkable apprentice. Dark side practically breathed through him, and yet, that core contained her light. He had to bring him closer to her. It wouldn't weaken his resolve to kill Skywalker – on the contrary. When he will have had Rey at his grasp again, he would murder anyone threatening to take her away.

"I am kind and merciful, Kylo Ren. You are a son to me. You are building our future, we shall subdue the galaxies and worlds shall tremble to behold our power. It all starts with death of Luke Skywalker. Come, kneel closer. I will bestow this gift upon you, because I feel merciful."

Ren's eyes edged with unshed tears. He regarded Supreme Leader as a candle in the dark, as a holy master of light. In that moment, he was. Would he truly bring him closer to Rey? Could there truly be someone as merciful in the entire Galaxy? Snoke's hologram let out a long breath. It rattled in the air like last breath of a mortal man; that last coil before the finish line.

It penetrated the very soul of the ship. Even this inanimate pile of steel felt the change in its frequency. Ren felt as if he absorbed an entire powerhouse, his fingers and toes were buzzing with electricity. He clutched his lightheaded skull and breathed in Snoke's breath, that gift promising him Rey's presence. If a father breathed into the mouth of his drowning son, he couldn't return more life into him as Snoke gave Kylo. At that moment, his love for Supreme Leader compared to his love for Han Solo, in the past.

"I'm not him…" dead, soulless eyes were looking at Rey. She dreamed of that encounter with the spirit often. Always, he took her in his arms and his lips nearly joined hers, when he shoved her away. "I'm not him." He would say.

 _"_ _It's me…Rey."_

She stirred in her sleep. This nightmare was different, more vicious. He would convince her first that he was the man she loved, and then push her away. Would he lie to her and then watch her fall apart? What would he gain by that? Since when were spirits wasting their nights by haunting tormented lovers anyway.

"You're not him," she moaned.

"Rey, _I am him_. Please, look at me."

She was walking through the star destroyer; crossing those corridors. The walls and machines were rising from the black void, as if her mind was creating that scenery as she went along. Rey stopped and touched silver railing, which grew into full blown bridge in front of her eyes.

"It's a dream…" she sighed, afraid of what would follow.

She entered the hologram chamber and saw his broad back. His scent blew her away first. Nothing human ever came out of the spirit, depth of his look, smell of his skin, sound of his voice – it was all sterile and hollow. Now, she recognized his familiar scent; the one intoxicating her when they made love.

"You're not him," she whispered.

"Rey," he quickly walked towards her, moving like a man eager to hold her in his arms, not a spirit. He resisted the urge to taste her. He couldn't scare away that miracle standing in front of his eyes. "It is me."

 _It was?_ She blinked. The interior of the ship disintegrated like a painting submerged into water. It faded into soft, lush meadow with a roaring waterfall.

"No." She immediately wanted to cry. "How dare you bring us here?" She didn't care that yelling at a dream made her look insane. "This place - how could you, after what…"

He instinctively hunched his shoulders, so he wouldn't intimidate her. "Rey," was all he could say, all he could think of. She was beautiful. He couldn't find grand metaphors to describe what he saw. Her soft hair hung in waves, her big eyes questioned even this conversation, but with innocence known only to her. Her little pout and curve of her neck reminded him of the moments in life when she belonged to him. One strap of her nightgown slid down, and he had the insane urge to pull it further off her bare shoulder.

"So, this isn't a dream." She crossed her arms. "What do you want from me?"

He blinked away the astonishment. "I… I needed to see you, if you were all right after that night." He admitted the truth.

" _You_ needed…and what about what I need? Maybe I need to be as far away from you as possible. Maybe I don't need it – maybe I want it."

"I am sorry." He didn't try to sheath those words in sentiment. He said it loud and clear. "I am sorry for hurting you. I am sorry I ever lay my hand on you. I should have never touched you. I am sorry I didn't trust you and for driving you away. If I could take it back, I would. And I mean all."

Rey fought not to look him in the eyes. She failed. "What all?" Tears welled in hers.

" _All_. If I could go back to Takodana, and see you in that forest, I would have never touched you. I would have taken the droid and left you alone."

Rey wiped her tears so fast that if he blinked, he would have missed it. She couldn't imagine what he was offering. He was talking about them not meeting, not fighting, not falling in love… That was unimaginable for her.

"I regret that night. But nothing else. You're right, you shouldn't have hurt me and doubted me. But you can't wish nothing happened between us. You mustn't."

Kylo didn't know what to say. What response would show her that he ached, when he didn't breathe the same air as her? What could he say not to scare her away, but at the same time make her see what he felt? He took one tentative step. Her eyes invited him to continue. His heartbeat was humming in his ears and his hands got cold, as if he held a block of ice.

"I'm sorry I fell." She said. "I did it out of spite, to punish you. I knew I could survive, and that it would hurt you." She lowered her eyes.

"It almost killed me."He whispered.

"I wanted you dead. Then," she quickly added. Her arms fell to her sides. She couldn't bear the stinging sensation, she tried to swing them and wiggle her fingers to spread that insane heat rising on her skin.

He witnessed her flushed under different circumstances, but the vividness of that memory made his veins burn. Now, her freckles disappeared under crimson glow.

"Rey," that one sweet syllable almost didn't leave his lips. He stepped closer, so close her felt her rising chest on his. "Forgive me."

"I did. I do," she spoke to his lips. Neither dared to kiss the other first. They had to dose their touches, their glances…everything felt so intense after weeks of absence. The mist rising from their chest mingled between them, and once she let out small moan, his lips crashed into hers.

He took her into his arms, and stroked the nape of her neck, her back, her hips…he needed to fit that missing piece back into him. He felt her eyelashes dampen, and inched away for a moment.

"I don't know why I'm crying," she whispered into him."It hurt so much. I missed you."

He nuzzled her cheek, overwhelmed by her need for him. He felt the same, only still worried one word from him would break it. His mouth gently parted hers, and their kiss deepened. He lifted her tiny waist and she wrapped her legs around him. Now, that he got her to the equal height, he began exploring the corners of her mouth, drinking in her sweet taste, her soft texture, her warmth. He must have been mad, when he willingly depraved himself of that for such a long time.

Rey tilted her head, and returned his kisses with her own, passionate and desperate for more, clenching his waist with her trembling legs. She was purring contently, as he slid his hands under her nightgown and touched her bare back. He was barely skimming her skin, but those almost touches were the most electrifying, promising more, but denying it at the same time. They were resting in that complete embrace long after need to breath drove them apart. She didn't want to let go of him, and he needed to feel her breath on his skin. To hold her hand wasn't enough. Breath was a sign of life, breath meant her heart was still beating. He didn't kill it, he didn't ruin them. He contoured her cheekbones with his knuckles. She wound her arms around him and their foreheads met.

"I took her. The little slave, she's safe." He whispered and felt her hands shaking. He covered her palm with his. That touch centered her.

"Y-you… you, you s-saved her. " New wave of regret washed over her. Rey sobbed, but not to herself. He caught those sobs and drank them all, as he kissed her again and again, letting her stain his face with hot tears.

Kylo was holding her close, trying not to give into her emotions. His own guilt would never leave him. It was ingrained so deeply, that he questioned everything he did in her presence. What if her held her too close? What if she suddenly became afraid of his thirst for her skin, of his need to taste her lips?

Rey didn't want to leave, ever. She felt his breath, heard his beating heart. She felt home.

"I had the strangest dream, a while ago." She murmured as he lowered her down. He was seated with back against the rock wall, and she was sitting across his lap, resting her head on his chest. She felt his muscles rise and fall through thin layer of his shirt. She never saw him wearing something so ordinary; so boyish.

"What about?" he played with her curls. His chest vibrated like a deep cavern when he spoke.

"I saw us, only it wasn't us. We grew up together; we fought…we…we had a child." Breath hitched in her neck. Her hand unwittingly dropped to her flat stomach. Ever since she got that scar, she felt something missing; something unknown and yet important.

"I know. I saw it, too."

Rey craned her head. His voice so was deep, full of melancholy. "What was it? Was it real?" His answer filled her with hope, so raw and overpowering – maybe that would be their future!

"I don't know." He lied. "The Force led us to that reality, maybe to show us what still could be." Ren took her hand into his and they both brushed the skin of her navel.

Rey closed her eyes. Family was sacred to her. She feared solitude. On Jakku, she used to be alone, so utterly alone she forgot her name sometimes, because there was no one to call it. "I always thought I would find my family again. I never wanted anything else. Maybe…maybe…" she was too embarrassed to tell him. He would surely not share her sentiment.

"…maybe we could make a family together – for us?"He asked.

Blood drained from her face. "It's just a silly musings, we don't have to. Not for years…we can't. There's still so much to accomplish, and now…"

He silenced her with a kiss. Kylo felt her need for love. She didn't need to be loved, selfishly, like most people wished. She needed to _give_ that love to someone, to anyone. He would never tell her, that he wanted nothing more than to share this with her. But he doubted he would live long enough.

If not Skywalker, than the new Galactic concordat would get him. If not them, he would die by the hand of the First Order. She had a future, only his was too short to impact it.

Rey bit his lip and withdrew in an instant. "You forgot I can read your mind, too." She said, pained. "Stop it. We have to stop lying to each other, if we want to start again."

"I don't want to hurt you." He brushed her cheek. "I want what we had in that dream – vision, whatever it was. I want it, but we have to be realistic."

"Oh, I forgot. You want the regimen of children to serve like generals in that new galaxy of yours."

He smirked. She leaned closer and licked the droplet of blood from his lips.

"Are you still on Korriban?"

She furrowed her brows. "You know I can't tell you that."

Theirs emotions changed, disturbed their reality. The waterfalls stopped spewing water, and the meadow started fading. Their vision had come to an end. Lovers looked at each other with fearful anticipation.

"How can we meet like this again?" She asked.

"Don't worry. Snoke showed me the way…"

All the warmth and love she felt burst like a bubble. She was so caught up in their reunion that she never even thought to speak with him about important things. "Ben – no, wait - Snoke…"

He locked his arms around her, silencing her with one last kiss.

"I will find you!" Rey heard his parting scream, as her hands gripped the sheets and she woke up in her empty bed.

* * *

 **A/N FINALLY. I hope the reunion was worth the wait :) Secondly, Gaiz, I know the ending. *guilty emoji* Now, I'm gonna do something I never did. I'll let you choose. The ending I wrote (and then deleted and wrote again) probably won't make you very happy. It's organic, and very, very in character and I think it will do credit to this fiction. BUT. I've been through fair share of fics in my life, and many left me heartbroken. I'm not kidding, I cried when these fics ended on a sad note, even if it felt right. So – you let me know. You write to me, and let me know what you're inclined to (not the plot details etc, but only in general, whether thumbs up or down feels better for you regarding Aphelion). Don't worry, either way – it'll be totally corresponding with the storyline and plot and characters, but the choice is twofold.**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

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 **This chap is a nod to Rebels fans and those who love Ezra, I hope you like all the little easter eggs I put in. The relationship between Ren and Bridger is crucial for the future, and it's pretty unconventional to say the least. Also, if you picture the Dug picture Sebulba from EI, they're the same race.**

* * *

One shot. He had one shot to seize it all; to get to her and make her see what needed to be done. They could leave it all behind, even if those hyperspace routes were forever lost on a Star Destroyer he had no access to.

Ren was walking the length of an infinite corridor. Each step seemed like one year of his life. He had the same opportunity of a lifetime as when Snoke offered to teach him.

"Republic is foolish. Republic is weak. Your mother has the Force and look what she chose to do with it. She loves her politics more than she loves you. Your father's life is worthless, he'll never give you what you need. But you," Snoke's voice thundered, "you have the blood of a titan. Darth Vader was the greatest Sith who ever lived. I can teach you to become great. Your name will be uttered on every lips in the new galaxy. _Our_ galaxy."

Rey didn't put out Kylo's desire for greatness. If anything, she fueled it even more; because now, he wasn't doing it only for himself. He would see Rey by his side. He would see their children rule the Galaxy, as their rightful inheritance. He was no longer that angry man; lashing out at everything in his way. Now, he took what he wanted.

 _"_ _I will find you."_ He promised her; but he had a feeling she would find him first. He didn't want it to be here. He didn't want Rey to witness what he had to do, what he had to become to conquer the planet.

Bridger walked with the entire stormtrooper squadron in tow. They were boarding shuttles to land on Malastare. "The industrial union of Malastare has refused our landing. They're not willing to negotiate with the First Order." He scoffed. "They make us to be some barbarians, who will just plunder they gas refineries and kill everyone."

Kylo Ren sat next to him, resting his hands on the arms of a leather chair. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

Commander narrowed his eyes. "Not that. We can't just invade their home world and blow up what opposes us. We did that, and look where it got us. The First Order needs to be legitimate. We can't fly the Starkiller base above a resisting planet and threaten annihilation anymore. We need to become more than an overreaching arm of brute force, otherwise none will ever side with us."

He leaned closer to Ren, resting is entire weight on his elbow."Ren, I'm no fool – I'm not Hux. I know what you're capable of. But the time of murdering entire villages has passed. Now, I'll handle the talking when we meet with the emissaries."

Kylo smirked. He would have had better understanding with Bridger in the past, when he served – not led; when the Order's mission had been his priority. Now, he cared only about his agenda.

Young Knight of Ren looked into Bridger's eyes. They were deep, blue and calm, unperturbed by this tug o' war for power. "Why are you here, Commander?"

"What kind of question is that?" Bridger's mouth twitched.

"Why has a man of your capabilities been sent here, to serve with me?" Ren's dark eyes were taking more from Bridger's mind than he was willing to let go."You knew about me before you even locked-in your shuttle. Were you sent to spy on me? Did they tell you to keep me in check, or perhaps kill me?"

Kylo pulled back, unable to infiltrate that deep barrier in Bridger's mind.

"All of the above. Is that such a surprise for you, Ren? You had a tracker placed in your belt, your every step has been watched for a long time. It was only logical another Force user would be sent to control your power."

Kylo had been right when he told Rey he couldn't leave the Order on his whim. His grip of the armchair tightened. Neither of the men wanted to drop their collected façade; but their abilities to read the other set them both unease.

The shuttle landed and stormtroopers were disembarking it before them, creating a protective phalanx for their superior officers. Dozen prototypes of chemical droids were flying above their heads; merely as an intimidation tactics. Ren didn't believe they were fully functional, and if they were, Bridger wouldn't use them. He put on his mask. He didn't care if the stormtroopers saw him, but one had to be careful while stepping into the unknown territory.

Dark glint got hold of Bridger's eyes, as they took their first step on this unfamiliar world. "Like I said, Ren – let me do the talking. We have to get the license for that gas refinery."

Kylo was trailing in their wake, taking in the dark purple hue of barren, rocky terrain. Malastare was a home planet of the Dug; an alien humanoid species. He cursed under his breath. Had Bridger ever dealt with any of them? Dug were known for their insolence and inability to keep deals. This rational approach didn't sit well with him; they should have simply fought their way to the refinery.

As they were passing the podracing circuit; his mind was engaged in a race of its own. There was something unique about Bridger, something Kylo couldn't quite place.

He must have fought many battles, judging by his broken nose and military posture. Still, he avoided violence whenever he could. He posed such a contrast to bloodthirsty, slave-murdering Hux. He was Force sensitive, but Kylo couldn't guess whether he bore an affinity to the light side, or the dark.

Force users usually discerned these types of thing, even without a special bond. With Bridger; he couldn't. He claimed to be trained by both – Jedi and Sith. He knew Darth Vader, _in person_. He exuded confidence and power, but not the kind of raw passion burning through Ren's every action. He didn't even bother to change a name. _Bridger_ wasn't a fear inspiring moniker, nor did it signify an allegiance to a cult, like his.

A wild, insane notion flickered in Kylo's mind. Could he perhaps help him to get away? Would he be willing to? Not open the door, merely slam it hard enough for the Order to struggle getting through.

He needed those lost hyperspace routes, but now, the change of plan was critical. Rey wouldn't be dependent on Skywalker any longer - killing him should take care of that. She would understand once Kylo revealed the truth to her. But he wouldn't do it, unless absolutely sure she was safe with him. Whenever he went, she would be hunted with him – by the Concordat, and the Order.

Vast methane farms were surrounding the Order troops, which stood out in white in the ceaseless sea of purple. The refinery was carved into massive block stone, the back of the mountain served as its southern wall. The metal behemoth was spewing fire and gaseous clouds.

Glass door opened to let the Dug delegation pass. Bridger's fingers were twitching behind his back, as he welcomed these humanoid aliens. Their skin was beige and smooth and bodies twisted, since they used their upper limbs for walking, and lower for grabbing things. Two facial tentacles hung from their snouts. The chief, dressed in leather cape, had shiny silky threads woven into his.

"No weapons," he spat, offended by the mere sight of the troopers.

Bridger raised his hands in a peace gesture typical for the Dug. "No weapons. We come to negotiate, not fight, great consul."

"Hmm," consul smacked his lips, "we said our peace. No gas for Order. No deal."

"Well, perhaps our visit might open a window of opportunity, then." Bridger motioned to two stormtroopers carrying a covered stretcher. "Great podracing champions of Malastare are famous in all parts of the known world. Let me bestow upon you these gifts, great consul. This podracer has been specifically designed for you, to enjoy more glorious victory."

Kylo was standing in the shadows, observing the situation. He had to admit, Bridger played the part of a diplomat well. He knew when to nod, what to say, when to laugh - but not like a sycophant. His interest in that inferior species seemed so genuine, that Ren questioned the nature of this man. Was the calm, reasonable Commander just a mask? How much of a real Bridger did he see, and how much of a man ordered to spy on him?

When their pointless exchange of pleasantries lasted another ten minutes, Ren sighed. It led nowhere. His eyes circled the entrance hall to the refinery; it was full of Dug armed from head to toe. They were boldly stroking their spears and vibroblades; baring teeth and shaking their snouts.

"No, no, no, soldier. No gas for you. We had war when dealing with the republic. We don't do deals with strangers anymore." Consul's tendrils flapped as he raised his chin.

Bridger's patience was wearing thin. "I assure you, that we are no republic. The First Order…"

He didn't have a chance to finish the sentence. Kylo Ren entered the perimeter. The air shifted, and even the slightest whispers died down. His long, heavy steps were getting his tower of a body closer to the glass gate. No order was necessary for the stormtroopers to clear the way, once they spotted him, his long robes were brushing only empty space.

Bridger's jaw muscles twitched as he saw this dark threat getting closer. He wasn't intimidated by what he saw, like all around him, but what he _felt_ emanating from Ren. Dark side felt powerful, dark side convinced the user of his invincibility and spread the doubt in the heart of the opponent.

"What is the delay here, Commander?" He asked through the mask.

The Dug chieftain and his soldiers raised their weapons. They might not have been Force sensitive, but even they sensed something sinister in this man.

"Nothing, Ren." Bridger said through gritted teeth. "Go back. Don't interfere." His look was both warning and daring. He was eager to see what Ren was capable of with his own eyes.

Kylo looked at the chieftain, as if bothered having to speak with him. "You will lead the First Order troops to the refinery and you will supply us with what we need. I expect you provide all the assistance as well." He ordered, and started walking back to the ship.

"Outrageous! This insult will not go unpunished!" Dug soldiers shook their spears in the air. Kylo's hand slid towards the hilt of his lightsaber.

Chieftain's eyes widened. "Jedi! You Jedi – we fought your kind, Jedi are the enemy of Malastare. You filth!"

Ren stopped.

For a moment, he was shielding the entire squadron with his wide back. The power of thousand suns charged his body. Blaze that got hold of him was violent, but he would savor it. Oh, would he savor it… The longer he prolonged chief's agony, the more satisfied he would feel. He turned slowly. The last thing he wanted was to ever look upon that slimy Dug face, but for the sake of quenching that fire, he was willing to.

He gripped his saber so hard, he heard tiny echo of cracking metal. He tore off the fuse; but it mattered not. Bridger was saying something to him, the Dug were throwing their primitive spears his way, hoping to bring him down.

He deflected every hit with the Force push, and ploughed his way closer and closer, till he charged with all his might and the fiery pillar sliced across three Dug at once. Ren didn't scream. It was a silent execution, swift and shocking. Their torsos separated and slid to the ground; oozing black blood.

Ren knew no mercy. Channeling the Force, he raised his hand and directed the fleet of chemical droids at the chieftain. They darted towards the Dug, but Ren didn't stop pushing, until he threw the entire delegation behind the glass gate. He flicked his wrist and the gate slammed shut.

Bewildered stormtroopers heard the screeching noise of the Dug; choking on their own blood. The droids were seeping and wheezing like a cold reptile, poisoning everything behind that glass. Some soldiers tried to peek in, but first the gas - and soon - splashes of blood, stained it. As if a massive bottle of red ink spilled on the transparent wall, the red among the blue gas covered all.

Kylo Ren spun to deliver another blow, but instead of a Dug, he hit something else - another crossguard lightsaber. This one shone emerald green, wielded with the same power and determination. Bridger was heaving up and down, his eyes screamed murder. "I should have you court-martialed for this. What the fuck you think you're doing?"

Ren blinked. He had never seen a sword with a similar design to his. He fashioned his from old Sith holocron, with a cracked crystal from the ancient planet of Malachor. He prided himself in the unique way the crossguard scared the opponents before the fight even began.

"You think I won't do it?" Bridger snarled, pressing the blade hard.

"I think you can't."

Without a single word, the green fire disappeared and Ren almost tripped over, as his red one suddenly opposed only empty air.

Bridger took a step back and rearranged his rumpled uniform. "You're lucky I respect your mother, Solo. Otherwise, this wouldn't stand."

Kylo had to spin his saber a few times, just to reassure himself he wasn't hearing things. How could Bridger even know Leia, let alone talk about respect?

Bridger snorted. "Don't act so surprised. I met her, once, when I was a padawan and she but a rebel. We were just kids too big for their shoes. But even back then, I knew she was a fierce warrior; and loyal." He let out a deep sigh of exhaustion. "Loyal to the bone."

Commander glanced around at the mayhem this young, reckless fool unleashed. The stormtroopers were whispering, standing by and lowering their weapons. He cursed out loud and turned to Kylo.

"You know how hard will it be, getting back the morale of the troops? Not to mention the disaster of not signing this fucking treaty. We're lucky if the Dug won't attack us in the middle of the night."

"Let them come at us with the spears. What can these savages do?"

Commander pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "You think you're so powerful, so smart. You think that this spectacle will make the troops follow you? Who will trust you now, when they saw what you've become? Don't make the same mistake Vader did. It's easier to follow a man, not a destroyer encased in armor."

Kylo perked up at the mention of his grandfather's name. Anyone who knew him personally and lived to tell the tale fascinated him.

Bridger's cold eyes pierced him. "Soldiers rally around a leader, but even he has to have a direction, a path they would follow. They see you use the Force on the enemies one day. What makes them sure you won't unleash it on them the very next?"

"I don't give a damn about your troops, or the Dug. For all your talk, Bridger, your methods are as inefficient as they're weak."

Ren wouldn't have it.

Even that sliver of respect he had for Commander didn't appease his tempestuous nature. He knew better. He was the legacy, the man who conquered temptation and healed himself from certain death. Even now, he was waking up in phantom pain from the Force lightning on Rakata. His heart was trying to rip his chest apart. The cold sweat drenched his pillows, as he screamed in imagined pain at the imaginary enemy. But he prevailed. He managed to heal himself, drawing from the life force of others.

He was wrong. Bridger was but another clone officer, a puppet of the Order ready to do their bidding. He wouldn't help him and Rey get away.

"There you go, Commander. I cleared the path for you. Go, get your gas supply. The negotiations are over." He motioned towards the refinery and walked back to the shuttle.

That night, when he finished his meditation, he refused the officer's dinner. He was about to indulge in the imitation of sleep; tossing and turning till Rey's face lulled him into light nap. The water dropping from the faucet would wake him. The scrape of soldier's boots jolted him out of sleep. He often broke something fragile before he realized where he was. He always broke the fragile things first, whether he meant to, or not.

The intercom bell chimed. Ren raised his eyebrow, as he glanced at the footage of the security camera. He pressed the automatic button and put on his best mask of indifference.

"Sit down, Ren." Bridger invited himself in without any hesitation. He pulled out a crystal decanter and filled two glasses. "Our surveillance satellite caught a signal of a _Liberator_ cruiser nearing the Umgul system. It's just a half day's worth journey from here. Should I be worried?"

Kylo didn't sit down.

He felt strangely vulnerable without his robes; dressed only in simple black shirt and pants. The robes gave him panache, the robes demanded respect. In one sweep of that coarse fabric he gained more confidence than wielding a blaster. So, he kept standing, hoping to gain advantage of height. He didn't have to do it. His black eyes were now branding Bridger, who deliberately avoided them.

"If it's a single cruiser, it's probably just one Resistance cell playing heroes. I don't care about a group of rag-tag misfits." Kylo cocked his head, sweeping hair on the side.

Bridger gulped the second drink, while Ren's first glass still remained untouched. "Ask me about him. Come on, I know you're dying to ask me." He kicked a chair which landed next to Ren.

Kylo lowered himself down, folding his lanky limbs awkwardly.

"Darth Vader seemed immortal to all who met him and still had the nerve to think rather than flee. I didn't believe any weapon in the entire Empire could kill him. That armor didn't make him a machine; it made him a god. I met him twice in my life. Once, I fought against him on Lothal. The other time, he got me this." Bridger knocked on his left calf which echoed as a bottom of a metal trunk.

Kylo's heart was beating at an alarming speed. "Why do I think there's a lesson behind your story? Some kind of morale you can't wait to bestow upon me?"

Vein on his forehead was throbbing. Commander thought him weak and impulsive. His aggressive move against the Dug didn't impress Bridger as it should have. Instead, Ren looked foolish in his eyes.

"Morale? No, I don't think so. Maybe you should act for yourself and stop imitating the dead. I think that deep down you already know that Darth Vader can be admired for many things, but not for being a skilled tactician. Fighter, on the other hand… I felt him use the Force on me and my f…" Bridger's glassy stare focused on the distance. "…the rebels I was foolishly cavorting with."

Why wouldn't he say friends? Kanan, Hera, Sabine - they weren't just friends, but a family to him, once. He caught himself and spun the glass around. "When Vader used the Force, one couldn't hope for the release of death. He inflicted pain, such profound agony that his victims never saw the light in dying. He kept going for hours, but only so that they would still breathe afterwards. He locked their spirit in their tortured bodies, they couldn't escape."

Ren stirred. His hand left clammy imprint on the upholstery. "I know of what you speak."

Dark side tortured the victims, and they often found escape in a mind palace; where they pictured their loved ones, or the cause they were fighting for. Strengthened by that resolve, not even the darkness broke them.

Darth Vader latched onto that projection, and snuffed it out, leaving only raw, flaying pain cutting to the bone. When mutilated and torn apart, many forgot a world without pain existed beyond that black armor. Kylo strived to learn that technique for his own interrogations, but he never did. He was missing something only old Sith Masters knew. There was no one to teach it.

Bridger sighed. "I sensed a presence on that _Liberator_ cruiser, something the surveillance droids won't pick up. I truly knew your mother. The presence I felt was as close to hers as it can get, but different."

"Luke Skywalker is coming, then." Ren said. It was a statement, not a question. He briefly imagined Rey's face behind Luke's and then, dismissed that idea. Skywalker wouldn't want her here for the same reason Kylo didn't – for her own protection. If she was here, neither of them could fight the other without restraint.

"You're a lone wolf, Ren. You serve the Order, but not. You're full of anger and hate, but direct it at those who have nothing to do with it. Let me ask again – should I be _worried_ about that small cruiser heading here?"

"Not if you stay out of my way. Skywalker is coming to die here. It has to be by my hand, and my only."

Bridger downed the last drink and wiped his flushed face. "I can't give you your revenge, but I can clear your way to it. I don't care for your personal vendetta. Only as a courtesy to your mother do I let you do this. You're powerful, but don't fancy yourself invincible. If I wanted you dead, you would be. Deal with Skywalker as you see fit. "He said and left Kylo Ren to another sleepless night.

Perhaps he might find an unlikely ally in a man equally tormented by the past, and ready to seize the future. For now, Kylo hunched over his lightsaber to repair that blown fuse. Cracked crystal could take life, but cracked hilt was more likely to explode in his hand. Stump was the only inheritance from Vader's legacy he could do without.

* * *

 **A/N Insane thank you goes to Poor Queequeg, Patagonia, cbrendible, HopefulPlace, Meditrina, Lynn 2187, Breab, Amygdala, Perry_Downing, Lady_Vader 67, kylorentrash96, Aynsleigh, and guests who reviewed but I can't see their handles. You all gave me advice and because of it I saw the perspective more clearly and I promise you the ending which you wanted. Ehm. "Rip the Galaxy apart, but keep them together." This 'bout sums it up. xD Once again, thank you. You're the best readers in the world. 3**

 **And also shout out to Poor Queequeg who reread Aphelion and took time to review it in its entirety – that's dope, sister. Thank you so much, everything you wrote is just so touching.**


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

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Luke was nursing the sense of guilt for lying to Rey like an open wound. He was standing on the auxiliary bridge of a _Liberator_ class ship; and seditious thoughts were whipping his mind.

He needed to helm those disturbances in his brain, but he couldn't hold still. Every time he tried to meditate and tap into the Force, two faces flashed in front of him and merged into one - a child that was lost before it was born. It would have been loved by the mother bathed in light, and the father shrouded in darkness, who knew nothing of its existence. This child would have been so adored, that it could put an end to ancient feud. Even if one spilled blood of the father; blood of the child was sacred.

Ren would have done anything to protect his.

That child was no more, and Luke suffered this oppressing guilt alone. The Concordat caught a signal on Malastare; that poisonous gas manufacturer; one of the mid rim worlds. Hux started drilling for iron ore on Korriban, mainly because of the protection their shields offered. Now, they had to change the formula and use different solutions to arm for the chemical warfare. Luke wasn't an official member of the mission. He went anyway. Kylo Ren would be there; and he had to deal with him once and for all.

Current framework of his thinking justified the act he was about to carry out. He needed this journey to the mid rim world to prepare himself for the task. He would have pondered the will of the Force had she only not burst through those automatic door.

"What are you doing here? This is a classified mission."

"This is a classified execution," Rey told him what he already knew.

"How did you get in?" He was pretty sure the travel log showed only two passengers aboard this ship.

"Is it so surprising, that a scavenger can sneak into the ship? I know every nuke."

There was that word again… Why did she insist to label herself as a _scavenger_? Must she hurl this in his face as an insult? He never heard her utter a word Jedi with the respect it deserved. Perhaps he respected it, because Master Yoda and Obi-Wan taught him how. He couldn't. He failed another in his training, learning bitter lesson. One grand act in his youth didn't mean he was destined to become a great Master. He didn't kill Vader and brought down the Empire – but that was in another life, another time.

"I felt your turmoil through the Force, Master. I know where you're heading – I know what you're set to do. You mustn't." Her pleading sounded harsh - half order, half remorse.

Luke sighed. "I know you shared a vision with him. Are you really so weak minded to abandon your principles and save a murderer, Rey?"

He almost said 'love' a murderer. It shouldn't surprise him she had been in contact with Ren. Their souls were already connected, so her yearning for him was expected. What Luke couldn't comprehend was her involvement in their mission. "Why are you so adamant on coming with us? You don't want to witness it."

Rey stepped closer to the transparent magnetic field leading out of the auxiliary bridge. Despite its windowless design, the field protected the crew from being sucked into space vacuum. They were standing so close to the stars; she could almost taste the comet.

"Aren't you supposed to be the keeper of peace? So, keep it. Why kill him?" She was done playing nice; begging for Ren's life.

Luke saw her absentmindedly brush past her lower abdomen; reaching for what she didn't have a chance to miss. Another lie piled on top of already endless stack. He didn't tell her for her own good, not to hold on to a trump card – yes, that was the reason which allowed him to sleep.

"I can't keep peace in the Galaxy where he wants to destroy it. No matter how many times we pronounce ourselves leaders, the First Order doesn't acknowledge it. They still stand, controlling several star systems. Kylo Ren is still fighting for them; despite that great love you proclaim the pair of you share. Tell me – why would I wait quietly? He killed Han, he would kill me, and his mother. He might even kill you."

The air around them crackled. Her nails were digging into her fists. If she had known, she would have never sought Luke Skywalker out. She should have trusted her instincts, at those rough-hewn steps of Ach-To temple.

 _"_ _The myth didn't live up to her expectations."_

No, it really didn't. Only now she saw that bringing down evil empires wasn't a theme for ballads about heroes. Real people bled and died; real people weren't infallible legends.

"This is…" She took a deep breath. "This is your family we're talking about. You would take life of your own nephew? Think about what you're doing. Have you ever tried to reason with him, show him mercy? I think you already decided what is right and wrong in your mind, and you will follow it no matter what I say, or if I beg."

He pierced her with his silver eyes. Usually twinkling stars were cold and detached. "Not all of us have the same luck as you. If the beast treated us all like you, we wouldn't be standing here. Don't make _me_ into one to defend him. I need to do what is right for the people, for the Galaxy…"

"Is is the truth – or another lie you're telling me?" She stepped into him.

Luke felt a gust of air shiver up his spine, so vivid he had to double check whether the shields didn't malfunction. No, the barriers held. Panic chilled him to the bone.

"What lie?"

"I don't… I don't know exactly." She sighed. "But I can feel it. Everytime I bring up my past, my parents – you become a mute, you brim with regret and pain. If I mean anything to you, Master, don't go down that path."

"Rey, you mean everything to me. That's why I took it upon myself to kill him. You were never meant to fall in love with him. I thought you would pull him back to the light, not follow him to the darkness."

"I didn't follow him anywhere." She screamed." He's not a monster you make him to be. He-"

"He murdered people in cold blood. He brought down an entire Star Destroyer just to vent his rage!" Luke threw his hands in the air.

"But he also saved a life! He saved a girl...a slave…"

Luke breathed a new life to his tirade. "For the good of the Galaxy…"

"Screw the galaxy! This is about your family – about you and your sister's son! Stop making your weakness into something big! Sparing Ben's life is just as important for you, as you make it to be for the galaxy." She grabbed his arm. "Did you know what Snoke was – back on Rakata? Did you?"

"I don't know what he is – but I had my suspicion he wasn't just a Sith lord."

"Then – you have to believe me. He told me terrible things. If you only knew how your father was born, you would see that no more Skywalker blood must be spilled. I can explain it to you. In that vision-"

He shied away from her. "Not all visions come to pass. Some are fickle, lies coated as truth."

His life was coming to an end; he could feel the physical less, and the Force more, as every Jedi must before that final test. Why would he wither of old age, as only true Masters deserved? Luke wouldn't go in peace; he needed to make sure he didn't leave the Wound in the Force behind.

"I can promise you one thing. I'm not going to the meeting to kill him. That's not my intention, at all. But if he draws first, if he attacks…I am not holding back, Rey. This needs to end. I'm one of the last of my kind. The Church is untrained, Tanakh won't be here long. And you," he lay his hands on her shoulders. "You will never go against him. You will rather join him in darkness than stop it from growing."

He was blaming her for love, the purest emotion she felt and twisting it into something hideous. Rey felt ashamed, and hurt. "Master, if one falls, so does the other. Snoke – that evil spirit, was manipulating you both from the beginning. What does it tell you, when he _wants_ you to face each other? Trust me," her lower lips quivered," can you at least trust me?"

His eyes softened. "I do. That doesn't change the fact that tomorrow, whether I die by the hand of my nephew; or we do nothing, those chemical droids will be released. Millions will be dead, planets purged of life – that is the future for which you're asking me to save him."

She forced his hands off her.

"Don't lump him together with those murderers. He would have left the Order, Master. He didn't want to serve them anymore." She felt compelled to defend Ren."Maybe he still will. You just have to give him a chance to speak; give _me_ the chance to explain to him, before you attack."

He walked closer to that open window. She felt it too – the universe was calling to them; as if they felt the Force pulsating through the very rock and darkness of the wild space. Ren wanted nothing more than absorb all the power of the Force. He slaughtered Jedi, he hunted Sith artifacts – he wanted power. Rey came into his life as a distraction; someone he could use as an apology when his consciousness needed to feel human.

Monster that is loved becomes invincible. Nothing could bring Ren down, once he had her love in his grasp. When split apart, he was vulnerable. She was coming to him now, as a greatest source of resolve he needed to fight, to kill and enslave. Not that she was aware – perhaps Ren wasn't either.

Words failed Luke. How could he make her understand? He lowered his voice, but he used the Force to deliver that clarity Rey needed to see his point.

"When I'm gone – Kylo Ren prevails, more powerful than ever. He will have you by his side. Then, nothing will stop him. He will twist you Rey, you won't see it. You will start excusing his darkest deeds as a necessity, as something done out of love. But to kill for love doesn't lessen the sin. The weight doesn't drop just because he wielded lightsaber with your image in mind."

He was telling the truth. Rey knew it. She was sobbing secretly, choked by that harsh reality Luke just revealed to her. He rocked her in his arms like a babe from the woods, purest of them all. She found it in her heart to love her enemy, the man everyone thought incapable of returning it. Luke didn't doubt Ben's love for her, either. Pity it wasn't enough to change him.

"Look at the Ryoone; it's but a taste of what they'll unleash. We have to stop it."

She pulled away, unable to listen to more of his sanctimonious reasoning.

He needed to believe it so much, he already decided who was and wasn't worthy of salvation. She never walked into anything so hopeless; so completely out of her hands. As long as she drew breath, she was capable of controlling her own fate; fight her own battles. Being reliant on the act of mercy from the both men she loved felt like drowning. Who would show it to the other - the old man, or an angry kid? How could she believe this would end in balance of the Force? If anything, the rift would deepen, the Galaxy would be thrust into chaos and destruction.

Ren's presence nearly knocked her off her feet the moment the ship docked on Malastare. Two Jedi cloaked in dark robes were walking on the barren wasteland, where not a single leaf moved in the dead wind.

"No wind," she muttered.

She outstretched her hand and felt no breeze on her skin; it stood still in the atmosphere as one with the space, where no stars moved. Even on Korriban, the wind always blew. There were no trees to grow, no life to welcome them. Entire planet emitted amethyst hue; the soil colored in the deepest shade of purple. It was breathing, though, churning out the geysers of blue, purple and green gas. She was walking behind Luke; and while she already stroked her lightsaber, he joined his hands under his sleeves.

Their feet were walking on the field of locusts, Rey thought. The crunching sound didn't cease, even when she didn't see any insect anywhere near them. Then, her ankle bore deep into a skull – were these bones? She recoiled. The wasteland was swarming with the metal arms, limbs, and heads of millions of droids. Malastare hosted a battle of the century, during the republic clone wars. Who would have buried these droids and AT&T walkers? They were not rotting; their chrome eyes were staring at them just as they once gazed upon the two armies that met here, on these infertile narrows.

Kylo Ren sensed Skywalker first. Hatred chained him to his old Master, the one with the same weak blood as his. So, he came to die here, on this gas giant. Then, Rey's aura permeated his being; light and divine. She wasn't supposed to be here, so he immediately started thinking up scenarios of getting her away. He breathed in, as he saw a vision of her, walking on the soft, dewy grass, laughing and carrying a child in her arms. The waterfall was roaring in the background, her skin shone with the moisture, caressed by that stream of water. The child with head full of black hair had eyes with specks of green.

"What is this," he gasped for air.

 _"_ _This is what you destroyed. I'm coming in peace – let me reason with you, Ben."_ Luke planted that vision into his mind; that torturous would-be fragment of the utmost happiness. He could almost touch it; almost wipe the dew from her skin.

Ren unbuckled his lightsaber. If Luke thought this would make him want to reason, he was wrong.

"You dare showing me this? You took this from me, you coward. The Force let me see that reality – if you only trained her… "

 _"_ _No. This child died by your hand."_

Ren clutched his ears to silence that agonizing voice. Every intake of air hit him in the chest – he heard his own hearbeat drilling in his ears. Then, those roaring vibrations changed and he heard two. Those two heartbeats were his enemy; he wondered what they meant.

"No, no, no." That one syllable had to escape his lips, maybe if he said it hundred times, it wouldn't be true. She would have told him, if she knew she was… She wouldn't have fought him, she wouldn't let herself fall. No.

"This is a trick. Dirty ploy to weaken me."

"It's the truth, Ben." Luke was standing behind his nephew, in a hall larger than entire Star Destroyer. They followed him into the gas refinery, to end what had begun fifteen years ago.

Kylo glanced at Rey.

Her rigid posture was ready for combat, her face edged into a piece of marble, stoic and focused. She didn't hear the mental conversation Luke shared with him. Ren twirled his saber, still but an uncharged piece of metal. Skywalker's robes were brushing her sides – that infuriated him. He didn't know why, but it did. What right did Luke have to be so close to her now, when he had dumped her in the first place? He spent a whole year by her side. Kylo had only few fleeting nights in her arms, only few stolen moments where she whispered his name and together they got lost in each other. Ren kept looking into Rey's eyes, which were stern and pleading at the same time.

"She doesn't know, Ben. If you let it be," Luke pointed at the handle," she doesn't have to. You know what I came here to do. I'm giving you a chance, for her sake. Lower your blade, and leave with us."

Ren was pacing like a wild animal, but keeping most of his restraint to find out more.

"Why? So you can imprison me for life? So your new republic can brand me a murderer and let me rot on Coruscant? Or better yet – execute me? Careful, Skywalker. There are other things she doesn't know."

Rey stood in the background.

If her time on Jakku taught her something, it was not to mingle unless sure of upper hand. She still didn't have it – because she still didn't have all the information. Why stomp and curse, when they were giving it to her willingly? She trusted Ben. He wouldn't do anything rash after they forgave each other. Still, there was never a person who displayed conviction like she did. She was constricting her arm muscles and watching both men like a hawk. Her hand never left the handle of her lightsaber. Was she truly so sure of Ben's loyalty to her, or was she lying to herself just a few more moments, because she still could?

Luke seemed unfazed, but deep down he already knew. Both of them were severing their ties to Rey's heart with long spun lies. "I am asking you one last time. Lower your weapon and come on your own."

Ren snarled and ignited it.

Red fiery column burst form the handle, the crossguard seeped from the side valves. "Do you remember that dream you told me about?" he pointed the tip towards Rey, acknowledging her presence out loud for the first time."The one with the child…it was real." He said, his eyes blazing.

Rey shifted. He was revealing something utterly insane. "I don't know how it could be."

"Oh, yes. You don't know. I bet you spent the longest nights of your life pondering about your parents, your past. Hux showed you some pieces, I added others. But the puzzle was incomplete, wasn't it? It didn't feel right, because you still don't know the most important fact."

He was pacing, and swaying his blade so low on the ground, that the tip was melting the concrete below, creating sharp, claw-like ridges.

Rey glanced at Ren, then Luke, whose head dropped to his chest. "Tell me, then."

"Ever wondered why San Tekka just happened to be on Jakku, huh? Why The First Order sent me there, to retrieve the map? It's because he saved you from the Emperor, your grandfather, and took you to his dear friend; to the one strong with the Force; the great hero of the New Republic. And he didn't want you."

Rey's shaking hands got sweaty, and her throat closed in. "Huh?" Was all she could muster.

"Luke Skywalker," Ren stopped pacing. His eyes were mirroring her own inner struggle. "He could have taken you as a child and trained you. He could have saved you from the misery of scavenging, solitude, he could have brought you to _me_."

His voice broke, but then he quickly regained his composure. After all that, she would surely not stand by the Jedi's side. Yes, she would see that Skywalker was a traitor and a coward and he deserved to die.

Rey tossed her outer robes on the floor, in desperate need of oxygen. Something human in her broke. Was she supposed to scream at her Master? Was she supposed to cry? What was the normal human reaction to this news? Luke answered first. He pulled her to him and gently raised the hem of her tunic. She was too stunned to process what he was doing.

"Rey, you know how you got that scar. I think deep down, you know even if I did my best to shield you from the truth."

"I… I got it after I fell on Korriban." Her mouth felt like sandpaper.

 _No_.

"You know, deep down – because all mothers know by nature that greatest loss."

"No," she slapped his hand away and gripped her stomach. Her entire body was shaking, her eyes welled up and without blinking, tears streamed down her cheeks. Two hearts were bleeding in that hall, her and Ren's. He felt her desperate need to scream, to cry out in pain – but she didn't.

"He killed you child. I'm so sorry that you have to know this," Luke's own voice cracked. "He fought you. Is this the life you want? Always afraid what might happen, when once again, your hatred overcomes you both?"

She had no idea she was pregnant. And then, she had no idea she wasn't anymore. So, how could that period in between feel so different? She was breaking, trembling, mourning the loss of it all.

Ren wanted to die, right there. He wanted Skywalker to die. For now, he was forced to watch her soft face glisten with tears, her small hands gripping her torso, rocking back and forth. He nearly tossed the lightsaber away and knelt beside her. He would have drank her pain, or drown in it – he didn't care. He couldn't do it because of that fucking coward Skywalker, who used this tragedy as a means to get Rey hate him.

The whole hall was being poisoned by the steaming fumes from the gas turbines. He would have gone to her and let her cry into his arms – later, if he lived long enough.

Rey started to absorb what she heard. They both drew their trump cards and showed them to her. All three of them knew, that whoever side she would take, had already won. Luke so desperately needed her to help the young Force users, to create a new, peaceful galaxy. Ren needed her, because he simply did. One didn't have to question his motives because they coincided with hers. Love didn't need a reason to unite. It tied them both so closely they shared one bloodstream, one soul.

She got up and faced her Master. "He didn't kill my child." Her face hardened. " _We_ did."

Luke blinked, confused. Surely, the only things she loved the most – family – would make her see that Ben was too far gone; that he needed to be controlled.

Rey wiped her face. They both disgusted her. Ren was hoping that she would resent Luke for not raising her, and take his side. And her Master – how could he blame only Ren? It was she who chose to fall, not him. He tried to make her come back; he was begging her to come back on the ground.

Her voice was venomous. "He hurt me and fought me, but in the end, we destroyed what we created – together. It was his anger and my spite."

She had to rise above this. She had to, even if it hurt. This fight wasn't about her and Ren; about a child who never had a chance to cry; about an old Jedi with no sense of purpose. She never saw things more clearly than now. After the shock and pain came peace. Rey took a deep breath. She was basking in the tranquility of those hot geysers, in the colors they radiated. Violet, blue and deep, forest green transitioned from one to another like a majestic rainbow. No more destruction, no more chaos – if she had to die right there to prevent it, so be it.

"There's nothing in the entire galaxy that could force me fight alongside one against the other. You can't extort it out of me." She grabbed her lightsaber."You can make me wish I was dead, that I did it all differently. Your words can make me cry and the truth angry. But I won't!" She yelled, short of breath. "I won't watch you fight each other. I won't let you."

Ren's hand waivered and his sabre slid lower. "He is a disgrace. Rey, you're too good, too trusting. Snoke told me; the Force demands his death. Snoke-"

"Snoke is dead, Ben!" Her scream made him flinch. "He's not the Master you seek. He's been lying to you, manipulating you all those years. Don't do it for me," She came closer, looking at him with blood shot eyes. He drank in the sweet scent of a dying flower, so unbecoming of her pain.

"I know you, please. If not for me, do it for power. If you think that Snoke is the way to get it, you couldn't be more wrong. He created life from the very Force itself; the Chosen One. He needed a body to house his spirit, but it failed and you are next in line. You and Luke are but puppets to him. When one kills the other, you're both gone, bound to serve him either in dead or in life. What becomes of your soul, when his spirit enslaves your body? Don't you see?"

She dared to clutch his robes. She was appealing to Ben, because reasoning with Luke was futile. He followed a code of honor, whilst Ben was led by anger. Both were set to kill each other, but only one knelt at the altar of that raw emotion. She couldn't go against the code chiseled in stone; but anger – anger she could tame, she could try to turn it into something else.

He was looking down at her, soothing her with those dark eyes. She relished in their intensity, in that stare where she once again became the centre of his universe. That look conveyed more than words; he felt her sorrow and loss. He loved that child that never came to be like he loved her. His face paled, as his eyes fluttered from her eyes, to the tip of her nose, down to those swollen lips. He had her captivated in a sublime trance where he needed her skin on his, her breath in his.

"Don't do this to me, please, _please_." She put every last ounce of energy into feeling his breath on her cheeks, as she raised her head and returned that stare.

"Will this end?" he whispered. "Tell me, will you stop loving me if I fight?"

She raised her chin. "Never."

Words failed her, so she used their Force bond to let him feel what she did. Kylo's face morphed into a mask of astonishment.

Her love wasn't a reward for being on the right side. She would love him blinded by power, or bathed in light. She would love him till her last breath; till the Force ripped the ground below their feet and she would die first. Even then, she would still feel that love which he felt, too. She was showing him all this, and he tasted his own tears. He kissed her, trying to lose himself in the harmony of their connection. He kissed her and she returned it more passionate than ever before. She brought him down, tugging onto his robes and captured his lower lip between hers. She was offering her very life essence to him, if he only took it.

He broke the kiss.

Rey came to her senses from the sweet moment of forgetting about their situation. She stepped back and her hand shot to her mouth. She wondered why Luke didn't take the advantage of the lover's distraction. Now she saw. Ren was already holding Luke in a Force push, choking the life out of him; all while he held her heart in his, while kissing her and making her believe he would follow her path.

The Jedi Master tore himself from Ren's deathtrap, flicked his hand and turned on his lightsaber.

Rey did what she had to. She ignited hers.

* * *

 **A/N I'd like to thank the guests who reviewed but I can't PM them obviously, so I appreciate your comments and I'm happy you like my fic :)**


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

* * *

Kylo almost Force slammed the lightsaber away from her hands. Then, he caught himself. He would never raise his hand against her, not after the last time; even if it meant disarming her for her own protection.

Two Jedi were approaching him slowly, cautiously, just playing with their weapons for the time being. The colors of their lightsabers reflected turmoil they brought into the fight. Luke's green fire made him a Jedi, Rey's red branded her a Sith. And yet, never before had a Jedi wanted to take the same life as Sith fought to save.

"Step aside, Rey."

"You step aside, Ren."

He smirked. This reminded him of the time when he wanted her to beg and she refused and fought him to the ground in the temple.

And then, Luke struck Kylo, leaving Rey behind.

They were hitting each other viciously. They delivered their blows with astonishing precision; and missed only when Rey stepped in. One time, she deflected red blade, the other green. They were a holy trinity, engaged in battle to the death. It was so easy to forget who fought who. She was gritting her teeth and boldly clawing at Luke's lightsaber with her own.

"Damn it, stop this! You're supposed to be our teacher. You're my father and more. Master stop!" She screamed, but couldn't talk further.

Kylo was already behind her, striking Luke over her head. Someone Force pushed her aside. She couldn't tell which one, while she was sliding on the metal floor like a sleigh. Her back was burning, she flew so far that only the wall finally put a stop to that passage of fire. The impact flung her back on the floor. She was heaving and scrambling on all four, crying through the intense pain. She lost the lightsaber. While she was frantically looking for it, she caught a glimpse of the battle.

The last Jedi didn't hold back, but his fighting style was refined and fast. Kylo hacked and burnt everything in his way; from the metal pillars to the chemical drones flying above their heads. They were screaming at each other, but she couldn't hear what due to ubiquitous seeping gas.

Rey cried out and tapped into the Force. With one swift push, she sent Ren and Luke flying backwards. "You will not take this from me! You will stop it and listen!"

She couldn't have made more than five steps, and green and red fires were roaring in her face again. Neither was losing time with her, they were so thirsty for each other's blood that they kept fighting, through her pleas or threats, through the poisonous fumes, through the bleeding wounds and dying stars. Their limbs tangled and parted so fast, that the blood she spotted could have belonged to either of them.

"Aaarghh!" Luke fell to his knees. Kylo Ren hacked his robotic hand off, but a metal splinter hit him right under the left eye. He screamed and fell in agony. He covered the eye with one hand, but the other was already looking to connect with his weapon.

Rey sprinted towards them. As quickly as they both fell, they brushed off their injuries and started dueling again. Her red blade joined two others, and they were waltzing in a dance accompanied by humming of the plasma.

"Get the hell out of my way!" Kylo screamed, blinded by pain and anger. "Get out!" He shoved past her.

"Never." She screamed, while Ren's blade deflected Luke's just in time to prevent a direct hit on Rey. "I won't watch you die! If you want, you can watch me, but I won't just stand there."

She would fight, no matter what. Kylo had no other choice than to let her, and to keep watch over her without her knowing. Looking after Rey was like keeping watch over the sun; intense and painful at the same time.

They were twirling their weapons, their moves were ever changing, but always in patterns. Where his blade scoured the hem of her robes, she knew to duck and stretch her willowy back again; giving him the space to cross-attack. He led her and she followed, only to swipe behind him and become the dominant fighter.

They fought only as the lovers could.

Their moves betrayed the intimacy they once shared; the electricity pooled inside their navel just as the magma heated the air. Their moves were risqué and bold. He felt her breaths on his skin before she charged at him – not aiming to attack, only disarm. She became the block between him and Luke Skywalker. Ren's love held him back. Maybe he didn't reach as far as he could; maybe his spin aimed a little too high for her petite stature. Rey paced her steps so he could count them.

Luke, on the other hand, didn't hold back.

He was so determined to end the lifetime of disappointment in his family, that he would pay the blood price. Kylo needed to protect Rey. She didn't want to hear it. She started to hit aggressively, more stealthily for him to follow. Once again, Ren shoved her aside and both men leapt over the turbines bolted to the ground to the other side of the refinery.

"No, no, damn it."Rey blinked, wiping her sweaty forehead. She couldn't follow them over the turbines.

They were screeching and flying around their own axis so fast, that individual blades melted into one giant vortex. Rey was trying to jump over them, but wasn't sure of her abilities. She could always slow the fall from the mountain, but once her tunic caught in that turbine, it would crush her to dust.

Kylo and Luke were fighting more viciously with each passing minute. Gone were the elegant spins and Luke's gallant sparring. He was equally frustrated and weakened like Ben. Rey was going mad with worry. She couldn't interfere. She couldn't watch either. Her eyes were searching for the power source of those ventilators, and once she spotted the sign for the switch box, she raised her hand. What came out if it surprised her.

Massive lightning bolt shot from Rey's arm and fried the fuse in the electrical grid. She should have been dead; she should have been burnt to the crisp. The lightning surged through her and she knew what if felt like to become one with the Force.

"You brought her down like this," both Luke and Ren stopped for a split second, just to look at that spectacular, raw power. "You turned her to the dark side." Luke screamed at his former pupil.

Only the dark side armed the user with such a power and Rey was using it to her full potential. Kylo used this moment and pierced Luke's shoulder. The fight continued.

Finally, the grid switched and the turbines stopped spinning, allowing Rey to leap over. She didn't run, she _flew_ towards them, prodding her muscles to run faster, harder… they were pumping blood into her ears and head, she was screaming inside, but still going.

"You will not take this from me." She screamed again, and Force-slammed three chemical droids into one of the turbines. The explosion separated Ren and Luke; both standing on the opposite side of a crater, panting and snarling. They were angry one could no longer lay waste to another; albeit for a brief second. Kylo mandated his strength into one blow which brought down a small metal plateau connecting two stories of the building. It fell to the ground, creating a makeshift bridge above the burning hearth.

Master could once again reach his pupil; and the pupil got another chance to strike. Rey was watching them crash, collide and throw themselves at each other. They were fighting through a visor of hate. They didn't pay attention to the ruckus of the seeping plasma, nor did they avoid the gaseous fumes choking the life out of people.

Kylo Ren and the Jedi Master were no ordinary mortals. This was a fight of the titans; the collision led by Force and destined to change it forever.

Luke spun around, when Ren suddenly kicked his shin. Rey froze few feet from them. Luke would have never anticipated such a low, common move from Kylo. He prided himself in being superior, even better than most Force users. He resolved to physical combat out of desperation – or to end his life swiftly. It couldn't be the latter, for he didn't care to ease Luke's suffering.

"I see you don't fight honorably…" Luke was kneeling, still deflecting one hit after another, unable to gain proper balance to stand up.

"Dying at my knees is still greater honor than you deserve."

Ren slashed places old man must have missed – and yet, he didn't.

Rey's hands were trembling. She didn't dare to mingle in such close combat. Any strike would be guaranteed to miss, or she would get herself killed in the process.

But then, something caught her attention, something she only heard of in the tales and holocrons. As Kylo's arms strained like two chords, his eyes gleamed red. His lightsaber was hacking down, aiming to dismember Skywalker, so it couldn't be the source of that incandescence.

No – something was changing in him.

He raised his lightsaber and Rey knew. This would be the final blow… this swing would take her Master's life. She felt his life force balancing on the edge of the precipice, the same she once chose to fall.

Kylo struck with a primal scream. His blade didn't hit green. It hit red. She knelt before Skywalker and shielded him.

"No," Ren whispered. She couldn't go against him – again… she wouldn't choose Skywalker's life, because this time, it would mean she forfeited his. "Don't do this," he pleaded, still pushing into her with all his might. They weren't playing, he wasn't holding back anymore.

Time to protect her ran out and Kylo was now fighting for his own life. Skywalker – him he could cast into abyss, but his body didn't know how to respond to Rey's plea for surrender. "One of us is going to die here. You're sentencing me!"

He nearly cried in pain, not from the heat of those clashed fiery pillars, but from another feeling of betrayal. Rey's body was pulsating in the rhythm of his heart. She was prostrated before Kylo, like a wedge between him and Luke. She was kneeling, her back hitting Luke's burnt shoulder, and her arms deflecting Ren's push.

"Step back! There's still time to turn back. Let go…don't do this, Ben." She cried through gritted teeth. Luke was trying to grab his lightsaber, still burning, still melting the floor next to Rey's knee. She was locked between two fires, green and red, while her own lightsaber was the only line sparing both lives.

 _"_ _You are the line…you keep the balance."_

Luke roared in pain, as her weight gnawed at his raw wound; but he couldn't move away. His body gave her traction point, helping her push against the colossus that was Ren.

"Rey, don't make me do this…" Kylo was biting his lip, tasting his own blood rather than having to make a decision. He was hurting her – and she wouldn't budge. There was only so much he could do to alleviate her pain, and still maintain his hold of Skywalker.

"I - am – not – going - to - move!" She bit each syllable into her tongue. "Unless you drive that blade into my heart," she was crying in pain, in misery, in the vision of loss one of them would feel in very short time. "You know what we are to each other. Please, Ben, step back."

He couldn't.

He couldn't stand looking at her dainty hands, her bloodshot eyes, her petite body strained so much, that her nose started bleeding. It was an eerie reminder of their fight during battle of Korriban.

Luke was still inching to get to his own sabre, but these two were a wall he couldn't cross. He could take one over the other, but never together – they were invincible. She was protecting him, and Ben was trying to kill him, and still, they maintained such a delicate balance, that he gazed in awe. Rey didn't mind to kneel before Ben, reason with him, or beg him. Ben could have sliced through both, Jedi and his padawan a long time ago, but he held back. Neither wanted to hurt the other, and he got caught in the middle of it all. They didn't see it, but this battle had to end; and one of them would die.

"Ben…" she took a deep breath, and slid further down on the floor, her knees unable to support such strain anymore. Luke grabbed his lightsaber just in time to push her away, and this time, it was green which clashed with red.

Rey crawled away. She was lying on the floor, hurt and cold.

Kylo Ren locked his eyes with hers.

In one single twirl of his wrist, he could angle his crossguard and slash Luke Skywalker's throat. Old Jedi Master would never see it coming. He never fought with such a weapon, and Ren's opponents often underestimated the exhaust vents.

Why did he hesitate to do it, though? He couldn't bring himself to move his wrist. He could run, he could breathe, every other limb in his body functioned, powered by hurl of adrenaline and pain. Why not _that_ move?

He kept looking at Rey. That one single twirl had sent him spiraling into the void before. In one flick, he sent Rey flying over the mouth of the valley, and she let herself fall. They killed their child. His hands were shaking, and he couldn't defend his life like that.

He lowered his blade in an imperceptible ebb; barely noticeable while it was crackling and spewing fire. It wasn't a grand gesture of surrender; no gaudy act of heroism. He wasn't resolved to stop fighting for good. Caught between two points of no return, he waited. For what, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had to keep looking into her eyes, if he was to die. He would sear her face into his memory, because now, he made the dumbest fucking choice which reduced his life into mere seconds.

Rey saw it.

She saw that recoil and in that inch lay his answer. He chose not to strike. He lowered his blade. He was still waiting, but he didn't take a life that could have already been his.

Luke, on the other hand felt the shift and with a wild cry, he thrust.

Fire pierced chest through the cracking bone, through blood and flesh, it plunged into the torn, beating heart. Kylo was mutely staring at Luke, seeing the sea of red spilling from under the robe. He saw the blood – but didn't feel it. That could not be.

It took him few more seconds to realize, that the blood wasn't his, and that Luke was falling down. The stream of red fire burst through his chest – but whose hand was wielding the weapon?

It was Rey, standing behind him, gripping the blade which ended Luke Skywalker's life. She looked on the verge of breakdown. She was dangerously swaying back and forth, fighting for each new breath, allowing herself to let go, but she couldn't.

"You stepped back…"he heard her say, and let out a loud breath, which he had been saving as his last. She spoke – she lived. "I begged you and you did it. You lowered your weapon. You tasted the anger, hatred, and power. You were almost there, you wanted to kill him, and _you stepped back_. Luke didn't."

She had to explain herself, she had to tell him that it wasn't a cold blooded murder.

Rey was still clutching that handle, with the crackling blade buried in the chest of already dead man. Ren slowly approached her, and gently placed his hand around hers. He brought her entire weight on him, holding her tight.

Together, they let go. The handle clicked and the red glow disappeared. "I… I had to. He would have killed you. The guilt would have destroyed him. Dark side preys on the weak. Then, that spirit…that _thing_ would have taken him and…"

He slid them both carefully on the floor. Rey was no longer using her limbs. He locked her in a tight embrace and rocked her gently back and forth, kissing her hair, her temples, all while breathing, just breathing. The more he pulled her closer, the more her torso shook; the more pain she released and he took it all. She was crying silently into his robes.

"It's all right, shhh, you're all right," he was lulling her into a calm trance. "I did it for you, always for you." He would have her cry and hurt now, and he would go through it with her. He closed his eyes and simply held her.

 _She chose him._ Again, and again; in the temple after he saved Sirah, in the shuttle where she gave him her body; even on that mountain; though if he failed to see it back then. She always chose him.

"We are equals, now."She said when she was able to form words. "You killed your father while he was trying to bring you back to light. I killed mine when he was trying to take you to the darkness."

She was the line, the keeper of that cursed bloodline.

The Force had finally found balance. The son of the light side and the daughter of darkness restored it. When he was struggling in the darkness, she fought him to the light. Then, he stepped back to the light, and she fell into darkness. He decided to spare Luke's life for _her_ – and she took it for _him_. Not one was righteous above the other.

They could destroy, or built, they could love or fight – but together, they _stepped back_. He held her while she was barely treading water. She pulled him from the fire of his mad ambition. When he craved power, she tamed it. When he loved only her, she was most giving of that love to others. They found each other despite their opposite legacy. They came back to each other when the earth split in two; when she fell and he didn't, when her Master would see him dead, and his would enslave them both.

The era of Jedi and Sith found its demise in two bleeding hearts; in the pale boy and feisty girl, who loved each other through the pain.

* * *

 **A/N Three more to go, this isn't the end yet. You know me – a lot can happen till you see 'the end'. This was a very close shave, but after careful consideration, I'm convinced this is exactly how it would pan out. In that second, I knew exactly how Kylo felt, truly ready not to do it for her. I write angst not only for the sake of it. Everything these poor souls went through played out, they learnt and made damn sure not to repeat the same mistakes. It determined the outcome of this battle. Thank you lovelies for reading and comments.**


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

* * *

Rey calmed down faster than he would have thought. After a while, she quietly snuggled under his arm. Ren knew he had to get them out of there, and soon. Bridger promised not to interfere, but by blowing up half the refinery, _they_ interfered with his plan.

Rey was listening to his heartbeat, when she flinched. Fingers of Luke's cut robotic arm buzzed on their own.

"I thought you fell asleep," Kylo tightened his hold of her.

"I was just so tired… I think I was in shock. I'm all right now." She raised her head and looked around. "We better go."

"We can still take five more minutes." He said, tracing small circles on her back. They talked, because she needed to hear that calm voice of his, and he just needed answers.

"You – stole what?" His full lips trembled. He was so proud of her for getting those maps. He didn't want to laugh under these circumstances, but he felt like it. So, he just shook his head and held her tight, while the corners of his lips twitched. She was depicting the whole trip to the Destroyer, as well as the encounter with that entity.

"And if I killed Luke?" Ren asked.

"Then the same would have happened to you." She sighed. "The only hope I had was that one of you would step back from that dark place. I was hoping it would be you, but…"

"You didn't believe it."

"No. I thought that Master…that Luke," she gulped, still unable to part with her dearest friend. Kylo saw what she did; but most importantly why she did it. Her brilliance didn't cease to amaze him. If she had forced him into it, he would have fought harder. But she let him decide. Was she so sure that his feelings for her would lead him the right way? Her breaths got even again. While she was finally getting warmer with each new breath, Luke Skywalker was getting colder. They really needed to get going.

"I know," she took a deep breath.

He was raising her up, and she held onto his robes for dear life. She didn't want to admit it, but her legs were wobbling and her hands felt as if submerged in the bucket of water. He purposefully lingered on her forehead with his lips. "You're so cold. You need to rest and heal."

Kylo had already lowered his arm to scoop her, but she refused.

"No, let me. I can walk by myself." She scowled. She couldn't let this break her. If she admitted how much it devastated her, how much Luke's death tore her apart, she would have felt like a murderer. No, she did what she had to do. She begged, she pleaded – she gave them both a chance. Only one took it and that wasn't on her.

Ren's features hardened. "You're going to fight me on this? Really? After what just happened, let me help you."

"I don't need you to carry me." Rey's shoulders tensed. "I need you to carry him." She pointed at Luke's body, and then stepped closer to Kylo. She wiped the trickle of blood from that metal shard.

"It's nothing." He squirmed.

"You're not the only one allowed to be concerned." Rey said and tore off the hem of her tunic.

She started carefully wiping his cheek. He was hissing, inconspicuously, but she heard it. She was sorry for yet another scar marring him; but he didn't care about the new mark. He cared that she was nursing him _now_ , when her tired body almost gave up.

"Rey," he enveloped her hand in his. "This is not important. Let me take you to safety. We have to leave Malastare, immediately. You need to rest."

Her hands dropped. She didn't want to leave. Once they stepped outside the refinery, it would all become real. While two people in the whole Galaxy knew about Luke's death, there was peace. A third person would mean war, fourth total destruction, and once the new republic found out; nowhere would be safe.

They walked out of the refinery together. Kylo was levitating Luke's body mid-air, and Rey was dragging behind him, limping and panting. She kept close to her Master, holding his lightsaber near her chest. One of his gray curls kept falling to his eyes. Rey tucked it. It fell again. She let out a small sob and brushed it a second time. She had to keep that curl aside, _she had to_. His face looked so peaceful, so frail, like a thin paper moon.

She was so focused on Luke that she stopped looking forward.

"Ouch," she bumped into Kylo's back. "Why are you s-"

He quickly groped behind his back and without looking at her, seized her hand in his. They were standing in front of an army of stormtroopers. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers were standing with readied blasters, in several precise formations, prepared to strike at a single command.

"One word, Ren. That's all it takes." Bridger climbed the last step to the glass entrance, dressed in an impeccably ironed uniform. It was the exact spot where Kylo had massacred the Dug the day before.

"Stay back." Kylo said quietly. His grip of Rey's hand was so tight, that she was certain it restricted the bloodflow. "Let us pass and nothing has to happen. We'll take one shuttle and you can even report us to the Order right away. I don't care. Just let us pass in peace."

Rey felt Kylo's exhaustion and fear.

He was heaving up and down, clutching just that one piece of her in his hand, and awaiting the inevitable. Weakened from the fight, he couldn't do much to an army of stormtroopers. Neither could she. If she wanted to help, he wouldn't let her. She didn't dare to speak, but the throbbing pain in her core was wearing her down. The Force lightning siphoned much of her energy and all she wanted to do was sleep. Forget, and sleep. She stifled a small moan of pain.

Corner of Bridger's mouth twitched. He slowly shifted his gaze to Rey. "So, you are the one for whom he killed Luke Skywalker. Well done, Jedi Killer."

"He didn't –" Rey took a deep breath, but Kylo tugged her arm.

"Yes. I killed the last Jedi Master. It's on me. She has nothing to do with it. Let us go, Bridger." Kylo's hands started shaking. This time, Rey stilled him with her grip.

"I don't think I can. But I'll keep the corpse – nothing will show the triumph of the First Order better than a carcass of the last Jedi on display. The Thirteenth will be pleased, so pleased that they may even spare your life. I don't know about hers…" He sniffed as if smelling something rotten.

Kylo's mad stare silenced the Commander. He let go of Rey and leaned to the general, whispering in a deadly, languid tone."I dare you. Touch her and I'll kill you. Touch the body and I'll kill you. Right here, right in front of your army you're so sure will follow you."

Bridger winced. "I don't need a lightsaber to do it either. I'll rip your guts out with my bare hands, right here."

Ren's hatred blurred his focus, and with a loud thud, Luke's body fell to the ground. Rey would have crouched down and caress it, just because she had the insane urge to do so, but she didn't.

Why was Ben dealing with this man? Why was he so afraid to just flee? They could use the Force and together, barricade themselves in the refinery. They would find another way out and run. Why did this plan occur to her, but not to him?

And then, she closed her eyes for a morsel of a second. She tapped into the Force, which was whispering and singing again that one fateful melody.

 _Old master…you can call me old master…Ezra! Come here boy._ An image of a teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes flashed in her mind. That boy was wrestling with an old, orange astrodroid, he was laughing with a jade Twi'lek woman, he was weeping over his parents. Her eyes flew open.

"You have the Force." She spoke directly to him. "You – you lost your parents, and your family; not once, but twice. You fought against the Empire." She was reading him like an open holocron. Bridger bared his teeth at her and raised a barrier to keep her out. He might have kicked her out of the vision, but the lingering feeling of his fear prevailed.

Kylo didn't have time to react. He didn't shield her with his body in time for what he knew would happen. Bridger yanked Rey's arm. Anger blinded him so much, it didn't occur to him to use the Force; he just grabbed her and dug his fingers deep into her flesh.

Rey was equally shocked, but also weak. She just didn't have it in her anymore, so she cried out.

What followed scared her more than Bridger's tussle, more than the fight in the refinery. The purple earth started shaking to the very core. The rock trembled. The refinery was contorting under the immense pressure, and all who could, crouched on the floor, balancing their weight. The squadron was no good to anybody, now that all stormtroopers fell down and the sky begun spewing fire.

"The storm," Rey whispered to herself. The brutal reality of Korriban's storm scared her more than anything.

One didn't fall in the middle of them all. Kylo Ren was standing unmovable. Rey blinked away pellets of rain shooting from the sky. Did he cause this? She couldn't tell, because he stood eerily still. She would have expected to see a savage outburst, an attack of a warrior depraved of his senses. But he was there, towering above them all, unbent by the rain and his temper, composed and menacing at the same time.

She looked at Bridger, crouching next to her. He returned her quizzical stare and mouthed a small "No."

He didn't do this; and neither did Rey. That left only one Force user. Ren's robes were saturated to the last fiber; he turned and offered his hand to Rey. She took it and he drew her up. Then, as if he forgot about her, he spun on the heel towards the army of stormtroopers. His voice ricocheted off the stone walls of the refinery, deep into the cauldron where they stood. "You were a witness to what I did yesterday. You see what I'm capable of today. You are kneeling at the feet of the First Order. Their power can't compare to the will of the Force – and I am one of the last ones that can wield it."

He was roaring over the rain, but Rey thought he screamed to diffuse the crackling electricity in his body. He was the source of hundreds of lightning bolts. She created one and could barely walk afterwards.

"Unmask yourselves and kneel before me. If you but kneel, you become my army. What is more powerful than an army led by the very Force itself? You are under my protection. You become my knights. Together, we will conquer the galaxy."

He waved his arm and raised Luke's corpse from the ground. It was hovering vertically, as if nailed to a cross. His robes were billowing in the wind, those curls Rey so desired to smooth were falling in his cold, upturned eyes.

"I killed the last Jedi in the Galaxy. I take lives of men or planets. The Force guides me and I can bend it to my will. Behold, Luke Skywalker, who perished by my hand. Kneel before me and become my knights. Fight against me, and I will kill you all."

Bolt of lightning slashed the sky like ripping a canvas apart. Rey was standing behind Kylo, trembling from much more than cold. Bridger was looming over her. They both forgot the other was the enemy. He even let her lean on him, when he sensed her weakness through the Force. "I never thought I will go out stomped by four thousand soldiers." He said, blinking, dazed. He was sure Ren's speech had signed his death warrant.

Rey was staring at the scene in utter horror. She felt Ren's insatiable thirst for power before, but nothing like this. Nothing seemed to be happening. No one knelt or moved, the winds and rain kept whipping the sky and Rey almost toppled over in pain. She was shuffling towards Luke's body, so undignified in its current state.

She started crying.

The rain mingled with her tears and she hid her face into her palms in shame. She killed her Master – for _this_? Luke was right. The tender man she loved was gone. Only the power hungry beast remained; treating his uncle's remains like a disgusting trophy. She couldn't even look at him. Her Master's lightsaber, she had been clutching closely to her chest, fell. Rey came under Luke's body and slowly lowered it down. She laid her head on his chest and wept.

Only this time, Luke wasn't there to hold her and rock her like a child; his child that she had become over the course of a year. Kylo stepped back, but into what? The darkness didn't go away; he just cloaked it in the words _"I love you"_ and Rey believed him, like a naïve little fool.

The thunder struck, but without lightning. Rey's head darted up. It thundered again. She stood up and quickly unbuckled her own lightsaber. She wasn't sure against whom she would need to use it. She bit her chafed lips. That thunder didn't come from the storm. One by one, the stormtroopers bent their armor together with their wills, and fell down on their knees.

"I can't believe this." Bridger was staring dumbstruck at his ranks. They knelt before Kylo Ren; the beast she couldn't help but love.

Rey gripped her sword harder but she had no strength to use it. Kylo Ren drove red fire into the sky; holding ruby cross of his lightsaber high above the kneeling soldiers like a relic. The sparks were flying from the plasma beam. The sight of him imposing that unholy blessing on the soldiers looked nothing shy of a dark ritual, where he presided over their very souls. They would belong to him, now. Why wasn't hers enough?

"Unmask yourselves. You no longer need to wear those uniforms. Forget the First Order. You serve me, now. Swear your fealty to me, and I will swear to you. Swear to obey me and protect me and I will swear to you. Swear to fight for me by blood, and I will fight for you. "

Unified scream cut the stormy horizon. "We swear our fealty." Their words echoed in Rey's ears.

"We swear to obey."

"We swear to protect."

"We swear to fight for you, by blood."

Their chant tied them to Ren forever. A sacred oath was spoken, an oath which could never be broken, unless their spirits broke out their bodies. They could only die for Ren now, not disobey.

"Rise, my Knights of Ren." He swirled the lightsaber in the air, and the storm ceased. Finally, the Master of the Knights of Ren had an army worthy of his name and power. Finally, the legacy started building his own troops who would fight his own battles, no one else's.

Rey's head was splitting in two. Kylo turned to Bridger, who cowered under Ren's mesmerizing stare.

"Swear to me."

Bridger blinked. "What?"

"Swear. We can work together and you may live, if you swear your loyalty to me. Or, you can go to the First Order and report everything you saw. You know what they'll do to you, though."

"I don't… I don't understand this. You can kill me – in fact, this whole coup of yours was just so you could get my troops and kill me. Why don't you? Why are you not running away with her," he pointed at Rey, "instead of wasting your time on me?"

"You told me I'm a lone wolf, but so are you, Bridger. I give you this chance as a return of the courtesy you gave me. You and me – we're not different. You know what this can mean." Kylo didn't look it, but he was worried by the possibility of Bridger's refusal. He studied the Commander and drew a chart of his character, and he still believed if given the right opportunity, Bridger would take it. He could still help him and Rey escape. They had a shot, that one shot he would seize.

Bridger knew the First Order would see the loss of Kylo Ren as his fault; and the Order didn't forgive. He had a chance to separate his interests and join ranks with Ren. An insane notion of fighting him appeared in his mind, but he just smirked at the thought. He wasn't a young padawan anymore; and Kanan – his old Jedi Master – trained him well. He anticipated the results of their fight before it even happened. He would lose. Anywhere else, he wouldn't, but since Ren was fighting for that woman, he would lose. Nothing could compete with his rage and fierceness when it came to protect this beaten, defiant girl.

Bridger sized up Ren's frame, and then offered his hand.

"I swear it. I will not serve you; but I will stand by your side, by my honor. I swear by blood." He looked Kylo in the eyes and men shook hands.

Rey was nearing collapse. What just happened? Luke wasn't dead more than hour, and Kylo Ren already overthrew an empire. He cared only about the power, only about the troops. Now that she killed Luke, she paved him a way to it.

 _"_ _When I'm gone – Kylo Ren prevails, more powerful than ever. He will have you by his side. Then, nothing will stop him. He will twist you Rey, you won't see it. Millions will be dead, planets purged of life – that is the future for which you're asking me to save him."_

"You…" She sobbed. "He hasn't gone cold yet, and you're already doing this? Tell me this isn't true. Tell me you didn't use me." She cried. She didn't care that she was alone against the masses. Every single trooper under the sun now belonged to Ren. She had only her lightsaber, her beloved Master, and rage. With these, she could bring him down. She had to.

"I see now, Master." Her eyes filled with tears of blood and she gazed up into the sky. Capillary in her eye must have burst, the Force lightning scorched her vessels and she now pushed her limits.

"Use you?" He stared at her incredulously."Stop it. Don't…stop hurting yourself. Come here, Rey." Kylo's opened palm repulsed her. She stepped back, but that didn't deter him.

"Rey – I'm doing this for you. These are yours to command. I promised you not a single drop of blood spilled, do you remember? Now that you saved copies of those maps, we can cross the wild space. We can go to the unknown regions, beyond the reaches of our borders. We have what we need – these men are bound to us. We have the troops willing to die for us – for _you_. You can rule with them, not as an army of war, but peace. We'll have the uninhibited power, we'll become gods of the new galaxy."

"I don't…" she couldn't find the right answer.

Kylo surpassed the wild need to pace and stomp. He trusted her. She felt hurt and betrayed – after all, he knew of what she spoke so well. But he trusted her. Of course he didn't plan to play a recruiter right off the gate, but the opportunity was there. If he hadn't taken it, Bridger wouldn't have extended the same olive branch as him.

Kylo thrust his lightsaber in the air again, but this time, he took hers and joined the blades together. Two red columns were crackling, crossed in a sign of an X; a symbol of new hope. The stormtroopers started chanting again, and Rey was dying inside with each new howl.

He was sharing power with her; the only thing he could have kept to himself. She never wanted what he did. She understood, now. It all came back to her. She pictured the temple on Rakata and two enemies kneeling opposite the other, while Luke battled Snoke.

 _"_ _Monster doesn't want to serve another monster. How surprising." She spat._

 _"_ _I don't want to serve_ anyone _, ever."_

He told her. Even before they became one, he told her the truth and she followed him blindly through it. He would never give up power, not for her – but he gave it _to_ her. That was the only gift she never wanted, not even from him.

Her lightsaber flew out of Ren's hand and she caught it.

"What are you doing?" He turned his off, letting her know that the time for fighting had passed.

"You're going where I can't follow." She tossed him the transparent disc. "Keep the plans. Go to your galaxy."

"Don't turn you back on me, Rey."He pleaded, pointing at Luke's body."Look at him. Isn't that what you've sacrificed so we could have this? So we could be together? The Order and your new republic are going to descend on us like vultures, now. We have the way out. Don't you see?"

"I can't." She sobbed. "There is no difference in what Hux coerced me to do, and what you're offering. I don't want to lead these men just like I didn't want to lead the First Order. Ben," she gave him an unyielding stare. "Ben please, let's go. We have to go and take Luke to your mother. You have my word, no one will harm you. Then, we can leave somewhere to the outer rim, and live in peace."

"I laid it all to your feet." He took her hands into his, taking a deep breath. He had to remain calm to word his thoughts, to make her see. "We will never be at peace. I love you," he whispered only she could hear. "I want you safe, but I also want to continue my grandfather's legacy. You know what we can be to each other. One word – just say yes and we can go."

"I know what I want." She let her hands fall. "You don't have to persuade me that your way is the right way. Not me."

"It's the _only_ way. What changed?" His eyes bore deep into hers."Minutes ago, you were willing to flee with me, just after you killed Skywalker – _for me_. Why do you have to complicate this, Rey?" The exhaustion got the better of him as well. He wiped his forehead and opened the wound from the splinter anew.

She was fascinated by that small runnel of blood trailing down his cheek. "It was only us, before." She spoke so quietly, he had to bow down to hear. Even her breath was cold. Damn it, he had to get her somewhere warm. "Remember? _It's just us, now_. You told me those exact words on Starkiller base. I'm just saying it back. I was willing to leave with Ben Solo, not as a general of your army. Ben – let's go." She stomped lightly like a petulant child. "Please, these men won't attack us now. I see what you did, but please let's go."

He shook his head.

She couldn't believe him. Rey scrunched her forehead, nodding left to the ships, begging with teary eyes.

He trembled, and mutely shook his head again. His lips quivered because he too, felt the urge to roar into the night. He was so pallid, so weary of it all, that perhaps he didn't realize what he was doing.

Rey looked at him one last time before she spun on the heel and walked away. He let her go in complete silence which was louder than their screams. He couldn't stand it. Perhaps before; but now everything changed. He took one single stride to get to her five small ones, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please – all I'm asking is for you to think about it."

She nodded. She didn't face him, but that small nod equaled to his small ebb of lightsaber back there. It scared her, that their future was now dependent on those little movements, nods and falls. She slid her hand into his, still facing north, looking where he never would. He couldn't bear the sight of her either, but he squeezed that cold hand in his, trying to give her at least little of his warmth.

She let go.

Rey kept going, teetering on the sides, levitating Master Luke. Kylo was watching the body he wanted to carry in his arms minutes ago leave on her own. Her panting stabbed him; she was so tired and so defeated. He ached to take care of her, to lay her to bed and keep vigil by her side till she woke up. But he couldn't. Ren motioned to two stormtroopers. "Accompany her, but keep your distance. Take her to whichever shuttle she wants, but be careful not to let her drag _that_ alone." He didn't even name the corpse of his own uncle.

The stormtroopers turned Knights of Ren parted in front of her like a sea. She was walking in the aisle legions created and crying, fighting her legs to move. She was breaking, and carrying only her dead Master's lightsaber in otherwise empty hands. Kylo had to let her go and think it through on her own. Before Korriban, he would have stopped her. They would have fought and hurt each other. Not that they weren't doing it now, but each held onto their own boundaries; each worshipped their own truth. After all, to him Rey was sacred. She would see. He trusted her and she would see.

"Come back when you've decided what is best for us. I know you need time. Come back, Rey. I will be waiting here, on Malastare – but not for long. You have your friends to thank for that. They'll be hunting us first."

It took all he had to deliver that single line. He couldn't fall apart in front of his new army. He turned away from them, from the refinery, from her and walked the opposite way. He had his army. He had what he wanted. Pity, that everything he didn't had come with it as well.

* * *

 **A/N Well damn. THIS is your shipping of two opposites. This is why we're all pulling our hair. One step further, mile step back. Love doesn't cancel their personalities. Kylo is a strategist 24/7. She wants to be at peace, finally. What now? Two more to go. 3**


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

* * *

She didn't come to him. He didn't come to her.

This was a calm separation; the one without the physical. While before they fought with their bodies, now they engaged in a fight of ideas. Rey simply couldn't see herself by his side like that. Kylo couldn't see them traipse the outer rim, hiding and hoping for weeks' worth of peace on one decrepit planet or another. They felt each other's presence through the Force. Anger woke them, and by night, longing carried them to sleep. Being orphaned hurt before, but now she felt more than abandoned, more than lost.

Some nights, she wished she didn't copy those wild space maps; that she never set foot in that Star Destroyer. "Finn should have stopped me. Poe should have refused to fly me." She was grappling the sheets and tossing in bed, once again cold and empty. She had the best friends in the world. Of course they wouldn't stop her. But if she hadn't gone, that haunting vision of the spirit would have never come to her, either. She knew what choice to make in the refinery because she understood the grand scheme of things; the importance of drawing from the dark side, but also letting it go.

Rey delivered the body of Luke Skywalker to the Resistance. She refused to call it Galactic Concordat. Resistance sounded simple. It rolled easily on her tongue, like a free word for the free people. New government relocated to the planet Denon; another megalopolis akin to Coruscant. The entire planet was one humongous city; bustling with life and space ships, full of large steel shards reaching high heavens.

She felt as if she fell back to that first vision that had troubled her on Ach-To; when she dreamed she was a child in a big city with lights. Yet somehow, she didn't belong there. She belonged to the desert orange planets, full of dunes and wide panorama; full of crisp breeze and clear sky. The only time she saw orange on Denon was when the sun set and its rays reflected from the glass surfaces of skyscrapers. She felt so alone there, just like on Jakku. Nobody would speak with her. Finn and Poe had been dispatched to some diplomatic mission to the Inner rim. Leia refused to see her right away; once she delivered Luke's body.

"You killed my brother."

"Who would have killed your son."

"You don't get to play god with my family. He took you in. He was training you as his own – he loved you more than he ever loved Ben, his own nephew. And you just drove the lightsaber through his heart."

Rey's eyes watered. "Tell me – did you enjoy watching your son fall to the dark side? Did it creep on him gradually, or did he change in one day? Because that's exactly what was happening to him."

Leia crossed her arms, trying to defy Rey – or was it the truth itself?

"That's exactly why Luke is lying here," Rey pointed at the catafalque. "He refused to listen to me. I begged him to hear me out. No Sith Lord tempted Ben. It was a dark entity – it still might be. I don't know if he's safe, if are we. That thing," Rey shuddered. "He's still around somewhere, and I can't be the only one fighting him."

They were arguing over Luke's corpse. Rey found it abhorrent; but Leia insisted on having Rey see what she had caused. She needed her to have tangible proof of her betrayal, of her sin against the Skywalker family.

"Are you going to arrest me?" Rey asked wearily.

"You think I wouldn't, if I could? Don't ask stupid questions. You know very well that such a cell hasn't been designed yet that could hold a Jedi… or a Sith." Leia stepped closer and looked deeply into Rey's eyes. "What are you, exactly? I don't even know you."

Rey didn't avert her eyes. "I am the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine; the Emperor of the entire Galaxy. I am also the daughter of the rebels who fought against him. I was born on both sides of the coin and I choose to keep the balance."

Leia stepped back. Rey's eyes glinted and her voice echoed in the Denoni Temple.

"I don't give a damn about your labels, General Organa. I'm the line," she quoted the spirit. "You should be grateful your son hasn't crossed it yet. I know I'm going to hell for the life I took. I know I'm not a perfect resistance fighter, or a trained Jedi. I didn't get to grow up in an aristocratic family like yourself. I didn't get to represent the planet in the Galactic Senate as a child. I had to portion my bread and bleed for my survival, but I'm here. I made it. I'm sorry I killed him, I really am."

She spun on the heel and dashed out of the temple. She always lashed out when the guilt overwhelmed her. She hadn't heard a word form Leia, or anyone, since. The mother in Leia knew the truth; or at least suspected it. Only Luke had gotten the full scope of their story, but Leia had her suspicions. This young woman had the same fervor in her eyes as a mother defending her child, when talking about Ben. That kind of unconditional love was either given birth to, or born from a bond stronger than death. Ben had one mother willing to defend him through everything, so Rey could only be his love. What happened between them?

"Rey!" Leia called after her. "I…I am sorry. I need time."

Three days had passed and Rey was been preparing to leave Denon behind. She had spent those days in the holo library, the greatest building she ever visited. It was a grand sanctuary full of knowledge bathed in blue light. She had sworn to herself that she would learn more about that dark spirit; whatever it was. Rey perused hundreds of holocrons a day; lost in words which made sense. She learnt about the history of the Empire. She read about the Jedi and Sith and played the public recordings of several Jedi councils. One particular holo caught her attention. A small, green alien spoke at a public ceremony. He looked so frail, that a gust of wind could probably sweep him off his feet. But Rey found him astonishing.

"Teach we must, not only those who knowledge seek, but those who have no chance to obtain it." He leaned on his cane and the children clapped.

"Younglings, welcome. Training now begins for you. Some remember your families not. Some still young are, too young to miss them. But forget not, that truly wonderful the mind of a child is. Difficult to see, always in motion is the future, but great can you become. Strong with the energy that binds the Galaxy, One with the Force. Train and learn my young padawans. "

Rey's lips parted and she absorbed every word with hitched breath. She was watching as many public records of this small man named Yoda, until the protocol droid politely asked her to leave. The library never closed, but even they had to charge the slots and Rey wasted the entire battery cell in her spot.

Yoda spoke of peace, but warned against the wars of old, as a constant reminder of what must not come to pass again. He was wise and calm, and no matter what the subject, he always emphasized the importance of the teaching new generations of the Jedi. Rey was wrestling the sheets alone again, and playing his speeches in her mind. The glare of Denon kept her awake anyway, so she pondered those words till the garbage collector chutes gobbled up the next fresh batch of morning's waste.

Rey shot up from bed, too soft for her back, after years' worth of sleep on the floor. Nothing was more important than to reach young minds and show them the way. There was no one to show it to Rey – or even to Kylo Ren. Worse yet, Snoke led him the wrong way, because he convinced him it was the only one.

She got dressed in haste and boldly crept into apartments seven stories below. Entire Niima outpost could fit into several stories of this building. She punched in the code and the automatic door slid open. The room was dark, but not. Holo signs and commercials were painting artwork of modern city right on her skin.

She went there to do something she wouldn't be proud of – to steal Artoo droid that belonged to Luke. She loved BeeBee, but since Poe's droid wasn't hers to take, she grabbed Artoo. She didn't care it constituted as a petty theft.

"Petty, right?" she laughed nervously, rubbing her hands at the back of her pants. "Petty is the word. It's an emergency, you know." She squatted next to droid."I'll send you back when I land. I have no credits for a new astrodroid. In fact, I have no credits for anything, but I really need you to help me navigate my ship."

Even the clothes she was wearing – black leggings and dark gray tunic - didn't belong to her. She really was poor, but now, she had a purpose. She knew what to do.

She knew where to go.

…

Kylo didn't expect her to return back to Malastare for a few days. After a week, he went wild.

"We can't lose any more time." Bridger said as he was studying the holo maps of the wild space. "If we are to cross, it has to be soon. We have to pass through Chis Ascendancy, and in a few weeks, it's going to be nothing more than a glacial mist under absolute zero. The engines will freeze and if not, the ships won't jump into hyperdrive. We can't navigate in those conditions."

The crossing itself, such a daring move, was insanely risky. None of them had the reassurance they _would_ cross. If they did – where would it lead them? Ren knew very well that this delay didn't help his cause. He heard the whispers of his new Knights. He heard their doubts while playing cards; he sensed their trepidation as they exchanged drunken tales while arming themselves with liquid courage. Correlian brandy unsealed many lips, and the whole squadron lived on rumors of the danger.

"Unknown shadow is lurking beyond our galaxy. Shadow people raised the barrier to keep us out." One said.

"Nah, it's far worse than that. Remember Youuzhan Vong and his siege of Coruscant?" Another man leaned closer to the enraptured group. "That was nothing. He was an extragalactic , too. He came from far reaches beyond our borders and brought nothing but doom. "

They were all asking the same question – did the same doom sleep on the other side of their known world? What if a cold reptile creature awaited them? No, it would surely be a world of brimstone and sulfur; that first fire some say gave birth to stars. Something terrible lay dormant where the stars went to die and the empires didn't matter.

Kylo Ren was listening to these legends- turned- truth under the mist of alcohol. These were all young, trained soldiers hardened by their profession, not some old crooks from the Coruscanti underbelly. Yet they believed these tales.

"I know you can feel it, too." Bridger's words disturbed him as a stick provoked a snake coiled in its lair. "Their fear grows stronger every day. You made that grand speech and they're yours to command now. So, command them. Lead them. Give them something to do."

Stormtroopers of the First Order had been programmed from birth. They knew nothing but discipline, their days were filled with orders and routine; which if skipped, set them unease.

"We still have time. We will wait." Kylo muttered, staring into the fire. Bridger didn't bother asking for what. Suddenly, a mild explosion shook the walls of their shelter. The fire flickered and almost went out, but soon, its flames returned to licking the granite wall. They got used to these warning signs form the Dug natives.

"You hear that?" Bridger arched his eyebrow. "The Dug didn't forget you massacred their chieftain. Thanks to that spectacular storm of yours, they still hold back. But we can't stay here any longer. One night, their attack won't resemble a bunch of savages with spears. They have sophisticated technology. They have been podracing champions in all political systems of the last century. Whether it was Old Republic, the Empire, or the New Republic – the Dug found their ways to shine."

Kylo Ren didn't move a muscle. He drifted away, as if he had forgotten where he was. His gaze was focused inwards. Deep cleft set in the middle of his forehead.

"We're not safe here. I'm still amazed the Order bought my report. If we wait, we'll have to deal with them, too." Bridger tapped his fingers on the wooden table. Still, he found his answer in the crackling of the firewood.

He closed his eyes and counted to ten. "She's not coming," he said quietly. "I know you're waiting for her, but she's not coming. I can read people. You think that if she loves you, she will return back to you. Quite the opposite, Ren."

Kylo bounced up. He started pacing the room. Given the length of his stride, he repeated the same three steps back and forth. "You don't know anything. I don't recall asking your opinion. We will depart when we're ready. The preparations…"

"…are at an end. We can go, now – this very night." Bridger stood up and faced Ren. "At least admit the truth. You know why we're still here and I know it too. Save your lies for the troops. They might believe there's still a chance of us getting out. If we're really waiting for her, we might as well set camp here for good, becau -"

Kylo grabbed Commander under his neck, squeezing it like a dog transports his pups between the teeth. "Don't ever talk about her. Don't even think about her. We'll cross when I say we're ready."

He dropped the starchy collar and fled the room. He knew. He was lying to himself, but he knew the truth. It took him another two days to confront Bridger and admit his mistake. He would never say it out loud; his pride took care of that. He just approached Bridger's cabin and said. "Give the order. We're leaving."

The Malastare became a machine, clicking with the precision of an old abacus. Soldiers were getting ready, boarding one of three massive carriers Bridger managed to snatch from under the nose of First Order. Analysts and astrodroids were computing the distances and charts. They zoomed in the maps and studied the same routes for a hundred times, marking them with the exactness thin as a human hair. Everything shuffled and hummed and roared as the firing of the engines began.

The only constant in that pandemonium was a dark figure of Kylo Ren. He stood unmovable at the observation deck of a carrier freighter, watching it all. Imbued in chaos, he felt calm and reached deep into his mind. He glimpsed his reflection in the glass panel. His finger began tracing the pale skin, the moles and scars, some old and other freshly gained. In his eyes, he looked like a grisly caricature of a man looking down on the ground from the place of no return. The ground was Rey and their love. The ship was power and loneliness.

He boarded it.

He took one last glance at the collapsed refinery and boarded the ship. Carrier's exhaust ports sucked in whirlpools of air, gaining necessary momentum to power that mass. It detached from the ground and started spinning and revving the engines. It coated the deep purple soil in glaring red lights as the ship roared and ascended to the stars.

Kylo didn't hear the mountain tremble. He felt every move and every vibration of the main deck, but he was deaf to the sound of his own breath, let alone that rambling. He was cursing the gravity, the pressure of the cabin, the lights and voices. He didn't want to be there.

He motioned to Bridger. "We have to talk. "

He knew what he needed to do.

* * *

 **A/N Dropping both final chapters now folks. I'm so emotional I can't even to even...**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

* * *

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me  
I know my way is rough and steep  
But golden fields lie just before me  
Where the redeemed shall ever sleep

* * *

Rey was blinking in the mirror. The mirror blinked back.

"Try to focus. That's it." Rey muttered, still locked with the pair of chocolate eyes. A piece of rock was levitating above two palms. The smaller one resembled a hook, tense and clawing at the stone as if holding it was the only thing that mattered. The larger palm was resting calmly in the air; open as a spread flower petal.

"I'm doing it… I'm doing it!" Sirah squeaked, but the second she finished her sentence, the pebble oscillated in the air, and dropped. "I did it." She nearly teared up. Did Rey see? Was she good at it? Was she rubbish?

"Yes, you did." Rey gave her a sincere smile and patted her on the back. "Well done, you." The little girl was trying so hard to please, that Rey felt closer to reliving her own childhood with each passing day. They had to perform well at all circumstances; both little Rey and little Sirah. If a child broke a window, it meant spanking. But if Rey had broken her spare parts on Jakku, it meant days without portions; and if Sirah had broken the mine cart back in the pits…

Sirah and two other children were sitting on an oak bench opposite their friend, Rey. She would never call herself Master. She refused the titles just as she refused the philosophy. These children would grow up different. These wouldn't even know they're being trained. The Galaxy had enough of the grand prophecies and eternal struggle between the dark side and the light. Rey vowed to teach them right.

"Don't worry, Sirah. You'll get it next time." Said a Togruta girl with red skin and striped montrals typical for her race. She was barely older than the brown haired boy sitting in the middle.

Rey glanced at the pile of stones to their left, and then back at the kids. They had been going at it since noon. Sirah kept chewing the inside of her cheek. The boy was shuffling his feet and the Togruta girl was squeezing a caterpillar. Rey suppressed a laugh and released them from this tedious exercise.

"Off you go, then. We'll play tomorrow. Go, Marca – I think your father wanted to plough the tockberry field today."

Kids didn't have to be told twice. They were already sprinting toward the dirt road before Rey even finished her invitation. They grew up in the open lanes and wide valleys. The wheat farms and vast fields were the best kind of playground for them. The sun was peaking high on the horizon. Her palm shielded her eyes as Rey gazed at it; allowing herself to get lost in one single moment. All she had was a moment. She didn't think about Kylo. She couldn't.

As much as his presence gave her strength, his absence weakened her more. But to erase him completely was unthinkable. So, she designated but a one fleeting moment every single day to think about him, usually when she looked at the blazing sun.

She smiled. Kylo resembled anything in the Galaxy more than sun, with his dark appearance and sullen expression. It was that scorching intensity which he carried around him that Rey found so familiar.

"Good day, Rey, and May the Moon shine on you crops." Gutrah greeted her from behind a picket fence.

"May the Sun raise them from the ground." Rey waved back. Sirah's grandmother took her in, even though Rey wouldn't hear of it. She was always used to living alone and fending for herself.

"I know, child." The old woman's forest green eyes softened. "But you don't have to anymore. What you did for my Sirah…I am forever in your debt. Here on Varada, that means everything."

Rey was teaching the children most of the day, but didn't shy away from the hard labor either. Village women fastened their long skirts and bent their backs to harvest the crops. She did the same to help and repay the kindness of their kindred spirit. She would laugh when the tockeberries stained her ankles deep red. That's why the adults always knew children had been stealing from the baskets.

"I only had one." Sirah wiped her mouth, but she couldn't swipe a wide red circle spreading from her ears to the nose.

"One?" Rey burs tout laughing.

She found three Force sensitive kids in the Tolomei sector and that was enough for now. She didn't want to raise suspicions of the ever watchful eyes of both, the Galactic Concordat or the First Order. At night, she sat on the porch of their hut and gazed at the stars. She still couldn't believe she had seen so much and been on so many of them.

She saw all the green in the Galaxy she could. She saw the sand dunes, more majestic than anything on Jakku; she visited the ancient Sith tombs and modern cities of Denon. Rey took a deep breath of the clean, country air. She even breathed the poison on Geonosis, before the Atharian bounty hunters drove the Resistance away. She had done so much, and yet changed so little.

"We call it _ashla_. What you're teaching to my little Sirah and those two other rascals." Guthra joined Rey and buffed on her pine pipe. "I know worlds beyond our own sees it as a grand source of power. Here, many folk could use it, once. But the Empire came, seized our land and most people like you with it."

Rey raised her head from peeling the potatoes for dinner. They couldn't afford a droid. "I am sorry." She said.

Gutrah laughed, biting on her wooden pipe as much as her slanted teeth allowed. "What do you have to be sorry for, my dear?"

Rey gulped. _Everything._ Her own grandfather did this. Her hands started trembling and the peeler dropped on the floor. She often forgot who she was. The granddaughter of a greatest monster in the Galaxy was sitting in a cob hut, peeling potatoes and working the fields. She sniffed.

" _I'm doing this for you Rey – you can command them, not as a force of war, but peace."_

That's why she couldn't reconcile with Ben's hunger for power. The Emperor had already destroyed it all, and she was too afraid to touch anything. Maybe she could redeem her blood and at least train a few Force sensitive kids.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan, she thought yawning to her linen.

"Night Rey."

"Night Sirah." Rey smiled and snuggled under cover.

* * *

All he got was that moment. Ren was trudging up the mountain path. To his left, he had to evade a sharp ravine, but at least he passed something. To his right was nothing, in the most literal sense. Wheat fields and tockberry farms, several sparsely spread huts and a temple to honor some old leader of the nearest town.

"Damn this." He cursed and raked his hair. Half of it was plastered across his damp forehead. He was burning both time and energy in this hole of a planet.

"Good Day and May the Moon shine on your crops." A bedraggled looking farmer passed him. He was riding a ridgecrawler, huge, rusty metal fortress these peasants used to work the fields.

"May the Moon shine. "Small boy tipped his cap. "May it shine." Woman with the skin brown as leather smiled at him, clutching the waist of her husband. Kylo stepped aside, flashing the most sincere smile he could muster. _Nailed it._

The little boy hid his head under mother's arm. Kylo scowled. Not a response he expected. He dared to continue only when they were but a russet dot on the horizon. He had enough cultural adventures with the locals for a lifetime. He kept going, but the machine clawed deep ruts into the soil.

"Unbelievable," he hissed and discarded the outer robes. He was wearing a sleeveless dark brown tunic and black pants tucked in the knee high boots. His wide leather belt contained a navicomputer disc, a decanter and … nothing else. He could pass for a peasant upon the first glance. Actually – he couldn't. He was too pale to be working the fields ten hours a day.

He stomped instead of walked, and that would damage the crops. The farmer's step was a caress of the soil, of the very same motherland which fed them and kept them alive. Kylo's arms tinged pink after an hour of this insane drudgery. He could see Rey blend among these people. She had the right skin tone, the right charming smile and sincere heart. She was willing to help at a bell's ring, in a child-like awe of things he wouldn't touch. Or poked.

His fingers were glued to his wet mop of a hair, and his vocabulary unbecoming of a man of Varada. The valley folk respected tradition and worshipped the Moon orbiting this rocky planet. Only the valleys provided for the families, just like the one Kylo descended into.

"Of all the planets in the Galaxy..." He kicked a stone. The vale used to be a river thousand years ago. Of course, she couldn't have chosen an ice planet; or at least a decent city where he would dock a shuttle and swagger out towards her all tall and impressive. He was out of his element in this provincial basket of the outer rim. He kept huffing and crossing short fences and country roads, all while praying not to meet another wholesome farmer who would ask too many questions.

"So nice, so freaking nosy." He talked to himself, as he deflected another hit of cloying willingness to show him the way. A merchant with pot belly just laughed and wished him the same, as other before. "May the Moon shine on your crops."

"Huh. Yours too." _Not that you need it, with that paunch_. His vague attempt at a crooked smile made the farmer scurry away, holding his face in a suspicious frown. Ren sighed. He was never going to fit in here. No tattered garb or false smile masked that air of superiority. The dark side was ever pervasive. Not only Force Users felt its power. Even these small people divined a thread rooted in hate and passion when he walked by them.

Finally, his legs carried him to a dirt road with the two wooden signs. Kylo took the one leading left, just like that slave girl had done before, to a village called Zadaran. He might have misread it, because rot had eaten several letters away. As he was getting closer, he deliberately slowed down, conscious of his appearance. This wasn't a reunion he had envisioned. _You look like a peasant_. He stopped pondering why all those walkers offered help to this charity case of a young man. His face was red and the scars evoked an image of a swashbuckling rogue, putting off these peace loving farmers. His hair looked like shit and his skin colored as a prune, but not the nice juicy one. He looked like an old shriveled prune, only worse.

"What now?" He sighed, as warm breeze carried a melody to him. He poised himself to receive some kind of odd folk blessing. Who knew how these incense sniffers welcomed strangers here? Women were harvesting the fields and singing so their work passed faster. Kylo's quest for riches had come to an end.

He spotted her.

He immediately arrested any kind of movement, and stood at the fringes of the field. He stared her up and down hungrily. He reprimanded himself not to gape like a fish, but he simply couldn't help it. She was wearing the same loose skirt and cropped top as other women, but none compared to her.

She was white and beige in the sea of red. The tockberry juices were staining her ankles, and suddenly he remembered how he kissed her there. Her tan changed the taut muscles of her abdomen into a valley curving up to her breasts and neck. She knotted up her white linen skirt at a hip; that voluptuous crossroad which led him two ways, both ending in immense pleasure.

She was singing alongside the women, bending her willowy back and wiping a trickle of sweat from her forehead. She was making up the words because she didn't understand the dialect, but the melody of her voice carried all the emotion.

Rey planked her back and shielded her eyes. "Is that Inael?" She muttered to herself. Droid mechanic's son often delivered a modest lunch as he passed from Tolomei to Zadaran. He was a tall and black haired lad with a persistent smile on his face.

Rey froze.

This man's wasn't smiling. This man's eyes were seeing a lot, but watching only her. He didn't know what to do with his hands, too large for a ridgecrawler, but befit to hold a lightsaber. Rey recognized him from the distance only when he started walking towards her. She watched him leave too many times, so now, coming towards her, she couldn't help but stare. Then, she mentally slapped herself and threw the basket of tockberries on the ground. _Such a waste_. She felt immediate surge of guilt, but this was worth it.

Kylo had been imagining all kinds of welcome, except the one he got. Rey was stomping towards him like a falling asteroid, and he knew that impact would scorch the ground. He stopped and waited, sporting a clandestine smile at her bent elbows and vigorous walk.

She shoved him.

Then again and again. "What, isn't this how you pictured us, huh? You came back and suddenly I'm supposed to throw myself at you and forgive everything?" She was still charging at now backpedaling Kylo."Is that what you were expecting?"

"Not from you. Maybe If I was walking to her," he pointed at a comely young farm girl.

Rey's mouth dropped. "How…even… I don't…" The gall he had.

She pushed him again but he grabbed her by the elbows. "If you want, we can settle this in a proper lightsaber duel. Isn't this a little beneath us?"

Rey blinked. _Lightsaber_. She looked him up and down, but he didn't have it on him. Actually, she really gave him a proper once over. Either he had been hiking for a decade, or just scrabbled out of Sarlacc pit. The sleeveless tunic, the sweat and sun burn overshadowed his usually menacing veneer. Rey unhinged her elbows from his grasp and stepped back.

 _Is she going to be sick?_ He bit his lower lip as he watched her bent over and heave to the ground. But then she darted up and burst out laughing. She was clutching her sides and wiping tears. Ren coughed. Farmers might not have understood, but they sure as hell looked entertained. _At his expense._

"You… you." She snorted like a child, gasping for breath."You came back from that new galaxy already? Must be such a… great… place." He went there as a destroyer of worlds, and returned as a peasant.

"I never left." He said quietly. Rey's smile died in an instant. "I never left Malastare. I was going to. I boarded the carrier and we set the course, but I couldn't leave."

They were now facing each other in the middle of a field while sun rays beamed above their crowns. Her hair darkened into deep shade of auburn, her eyes melted like caramel, burying those specks of green. Kylo bent down – he couldn't find them, for the first time since he noticed them under their waterfall.

"Was it hard?" He asked. "Taking Skywalker to my mother."

"Yes." She said. Time for joking was over.

"I should have gone with you. I am sorry." He left her alone, once again when she needed him the most.

"I could have expected it from him." Rey tilted her head towards Ilean, the lunch boy who just dismounted his speeder. "Not from you. I was perfectly fine doing it on my own. Thank you very much."

His dark eyes remembered. "I have no excuse. No words. I just… "

Rey averted her head. She had other things to worry about. Sirah would be coming home for lunch soon, and their lessons today hadn't even started yet. She had to help Gutrah chop the firewood and continue working on assembling that droid they so desperately needed. Once again, he came to her and screwed everything up.

"I can't do this anymore, Ben. I found peace here. I can't die inside every time you decide to leave me for your mad quest. I just can't." Breath couldn't pass a lump in her throat.

He enveloped her hands in his. They were calloused, not soft as he remembered. "You could do this beyond the reaches. You could be a farmer, if you want. I don't care. Hell, I can give you an entire planet just so you could plant these…" he scowled at the suspicious looking crop.

"Tockeberries." Rey huffed. "And that's not the point. Can we go there together? Can we live in peace and not care about the galaxy? See, I don't want you to get me a planet."

"But why?"

"Because I don't want you to have the power to give it to me in the first place." She yanked her hand form his. "This," she circled the field with her arms," will never be enough for you. But it is for me. I didn't want to get caught in it all. I wanted to leave Jakku and find my family, not become a Jedi, then Sith, then murderer, and then your…"

She bit her tongue. No, she didn't regret the last bit.

Ren could stand there and take her reproach until the full moon waned into a slim crescent. He didn't care. She spoke the truth and it was about time they acknowledged it. But he wouldn't let her go. Not this time, not after Korriban, not after she saved his life and killed Luke.

"You chose me. Now, let me choose you." He whispered. He didn't care it made him look pathetic, either. Once he dropped the façade, he felt free. He could finally wake up and take a deep breath and not give a damn.

Naturally, he had a back up plan he wouldn't spill to her just yet.

"I'm giving you the command of the _Finalizer_. "

"You can't mean this. After all you've done – all you've fought. This is your chance to be free of the Order and Snoke. You fought to get that power and now, you're leaving me to lead the expedition to the wild space?" Bridger's incredulous stare reflected the insanity of this plan.

"I trust you. You are my second in command. I will cross after you. If my estimate is correct, it shouldn't take more than a few weeks. I will get there. I expect a provisionary colony to be fully operational, once we cross after you."

" _We_?" Bridger's eyebrow shot up. "Interesting. I see. Well, I can't promise you to succeed, but I can try. I still bet you all the credits the Order owes me she won't come with you. I think you're making a mistake and you'll regret it. But – it's on you." Both men shook hands.

Rey wondered, as she did many times before. Could this finally be it? If she refused him, would she kill their last chance? Because _this_ would be the last she was willing to give him.

His answer lied in that one look, in that slight parting of her rosy lips. He lifted her in his arms and tasted them. He was spinning Rey around, holding her body with one arm and caressing her cheek with the other. She was weightless, she was his and he could have carried her to the moon if he had to. She was laughing, more at him than to herself, so he kissed her again and again in the fields under the shining sun.

They made love that night, in their new small hut. Their bodies bore the stains of the day, but they didn't bother to wash. He slid the linen off her shoulders, nearly dying as the fabric got caught on her erect nipples. She ripped his tunic apart, and he started kissing her. The scent of their desire mingled together with their breath. He angled her jaw and kissed her neck, her chest, kneading her breasts and then placed his hands on her sides. Kylo knelt before her as if she were a shrine to be worshipped. For him, she was. She threw her head back as his tongue caressed the skin of her stomach, going lower and lower.

He skimmed the knots, pushed her skirt down and ravaged her only with his hot breath and kisses; until he got to that scar. He stopped. It was pink and narrow, but it was there. Rey buried her hand in his hair and craned his head.

Kylo immediately drew himself to his full height. "Fuck. I'm so sorry. I didn't think. I'm sorry." He instinctively backtracked, leaving her alone and exposed. He still wore pants and at that moment, he felt as if he ruined it all again.

"It's all right." Rey laid her palms on his chest muscles. She didn't want to be away from him. She didn't need space or apologies. She knew what they had become to one another and nothing erased their past. She needed him, now. He took her hand and led her to bed. Their bodies connected in a harmony unknown to them.

They didn't have to cool a frenzied fever, or worry about Resistance or the Order. He was kissing her, while he moved inside her in languid pace, all while her lips never left his. She wrapped her ankles around him, because even that little bit of distance meant the world.

"I love you." He whispered and she said it back. It meant everything, when one didn't have to say it to convince the other; and both could finally trust it.

"We can make this work." Rey bit her lip as they reorganized their new abode. She was watching him wrestle with a shelf. _A shelf_. She thought she'd never see the day. Some days she woke up in a fairytale. Others, she doubted everything.

They were learning things about the other which they never knew before. Kylo learnt she was terrified of storms, ever since that night on Korriban. He held her close every time her heart almost gave up at the flash of lightning. When alone, she used to crawl into a bathtub till the worst passed and she could open her eyes again. But he didn't let her go through it anymore. He sat behind her, crossed her torso with his arms and pulled her into him, cradling her and whispering nonsense, till she fell asleep. Even then, he would stay there because the tub was uncomfortable. He'd rather have his back sore, than hers.

Rey almost sliced his arm one night when he surged out of bed, screaming like an animal. She automatically reached for her lightsaber, and before her comatose self realized what she was doing, lit it up.

Luckily, she missed.

She had learnt he suffered from the phantom pain ever since he brought down Snoke on Rakata. He would wake up and claw on walls and sheets, blind and deaf to her pleas. So, she held him in return, until he calmed down. He never thanked her, even as he regained consciousness. He lied on her bare chest, and she was raking her fingers through his thick hair. But in the morning, she found him staring at her and in those eyes, she saw more than gratitude, more than love.

He learned to think before he asserted his will everywhere, as he was used to. He kept painting over some hideous scratches on their porch wall, again and again, getting mad at those insufferable kids for marking their home.

"It's not the kids." Rey lowered her eyes. She didn't know how to explain. "Each scratch is for a new day. I used to do that on Jakku." She squirmed.

"Really?" He blinked. "Why? What this means?" He leaned and studied one bigger than others.

"That's the day you came back."

He never touched that cursed paint again. He kept apologizing and she brushed it off with that wide, sincere smile. Yet, he felt like the greatest asshole of them all. She still needed a tangible proof he was here, with her. She marked that wall as if counting the days he would ditch her. _You did just that, twice, you oaf._ No, he would never.

She was still teaching her three younglings and he struggled to kill time. He would never sully himself in the soil, she knew that. So, he started mucking around that droid she had meant to assemble. He skulked around the district and scoured ever nearby village to salvage the spare parts, and in three weeks, he really did it.

"Behold, BeeBee Ten." Rey was clapping and laughing.

Ren huffed. "I am not naming our droid after that damn ball."

Then, when he was done with this little project, he took upon an offer of that paunchy merchant to ship his cargo to the nearby outer rim worlds.

He became Ben and she remained Rey.

Sometimes, she felt as if she couldn't breathe when she thought about him. She didn't need food, or sleep, as long as he was sitting at their table, poking in an ionizer and biting those full lips.

He would always bring her a present from his trips, just a trinket, really . When he gave her a small engraved spoon, he lowered that galaxy he had been offering to her feet. They couldn't be apart from dusk till dawn. The sun rose and set, but that meant nothing for them. One day was not such a long time, and still, they wouldn't go through it without seeing each other.

She would return from the fields at the verge of the day, and he would be waiting for her at the fork of the road to walk her home. Their home. Lovers found it hard to curb their addiction, so he took her behind the shed, right where the villagers were leaving the temple of the Moon.

"I need you. I can't wait." He whispered and kissed her. Her back was slamming the wooden wall of a shed as he lifted her skirt and thrust into her. He had to kiss her to quieten her moans. Nothing aroused her more than his animalistic need for her; so constant and fresh at the same time. She was writhing in ecstasy, biting his neck until she tasted blood and he carried her to the climax, all while supporting the weight of them both. She would always associate the smell of starblossoms and humming of crickets with those wild, summer nights.

They stopped only after mortified Rey nearly died, when she saw Gutrah carving a crib from a log of wood."You gonna need it at this rate. He's like a bull, that man of yours." She cackled, her wise eyes telling Rey that she too was young, once. She handed her a bouquet of crimson wild flowers fastened with a yarn string. "Take these starblossoms. The Moon in our world colors them white when a woman finds herself blessed. You will see. I'm surprised you're not with child, yet."

Rey sobered up. No, she wasn't. She and Ben had been living on Varada for three months, and he gave her plenty of opportunity to get pregnant. Yet, she didn't. Perhaps that fall stole their chance forever. She kept those red flowers in the vase on the table. They withered and died, but never turned white.

She sighed one night, as sleeping Ben tossed his arm around her and tugged her closer. Asleep or awake, they lived skin to skin. Kids didn't matter. Well, they did, but Rey found a silver lining. She had children already - she would become a surrogate mother to all those Force sensitive orphans in her care. She hated to be Master Rey; but she could imagine being Mom Rey. She let out a silent sob into the pillow, as she held onto that strong arm.

"I can read your thoughts." He gently whispered into her ear. Rey turned. She forgot they even shared a Force bond– the entire Force thing paled in comparison how fulfilling their love felt.

"I'm sorry." She said, wiping her nose embarrassed. She didn't cry pretty; her face was blotched and her nose runny; it was a disgusting sight. But he never saw any of that.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He kissed her wet nose and she laughed through the tears. He bore that guilt for both of them. The entire three months, they managed to avoid the elephant in the room. They didn't talk about the dark side, the Force, Snoke or the First Order. They didn't have to because he was _Ben_ and she was _Rey_. But now, it came to haunt them as a painful memento.

Weeks turned to months and months passed quicker than any of them expected. The hut changed to house; a house changed into small villa and the villa grew in size with lush vegetable gardens.

But the shadow reached even the brightest of corners. Rey had been observing for some time. He was restless. What once filled his time was now but an unwanted distraction. He still flew the ships with merchant cargo; he still dabbled in droid construction. Many villagers came to him to have their units fixed, or built anew.

But he was restless.

He would gaze at the night sky as the praying valley folk beheld their Moon in the temple. His hands fell at is sides, but he would rub them together. Something was missing. The blood never washed away; only faded. He hadn't wielded a lightsaber in almost a year. He had no notion of events beyond this inconsequential planet; let alone the news of another galaxy.

Shadows crept into his mind, shadow and doubt. He pictured Bridger at his rightful place. Was the crew dead and floating frozen in space? Did the carriers made it and now, they ruled the nations? He needed answers. He was supposed to bring Rey back after few weeks, not succumb to this simple life. No one would usurp his place as a ruler of the Galaxy.

"I am grander than you, grandfather." He pulled out an object he was most ashamed of. That distorted helmed travelled with him, no matter where. It accompanied him in darkness and he would see it in light. "I have what you wanted. I have this life you couldn't with Padmé. And I will have that power, too."

He would. He fought harder than Vader ever had to. He sacrificed so much; he even killed his own kin, a deed Vader never managed to carry out. Technically, Rey killed him, but only to spare Ben's life.

Rey was watching these changes occur in him in the span of months, holding back. Maybe if she gave him enough space, he would come to his senses. No one was infallible, and she couldn't expect such a troubled man not being tempted. But as the weeks went by; his demeanor changed. He was lost in his own mind, scheming grand plans. He started buying engine parts; too large and absolutely unnecessary to rebuilt a simple village droid. He saved credits and frequently visited the towns around the edge of Tolomei. He was preparing to get off. Rey knew it and her heart was breaking. The only unanswered question remained – who would bring up the news first? She bit the bullet and did it one evening.

"When are you going to tell me the truth?" She set aside her fork and forced him to pay attention. "Are you planning on informing me before, or after I wake up strapped in your ship as once before?"

His gaze darkened. "That was a low blow. You know I would never hurt you again." She could be angry, but the very suggestion he would have harmed her made his blood boil. "I was going to tell you once I was sure that the deal would go through."

"What deal?" She asked.

"I bought a ship. It's not new, but the hyperdrive engines are. We don't need a pretty wrapper, only the power to cross. We will have that. I'm picking it up next week from Xandor."

"And you're telling me this." She grimaced. "Just like that, casually at dinner and even then it's me who has to ask first."

"I was going to suggest it." He shoved the plate away and walked towards her. He knelt and looked her in the eyes. "Just think about it. My word still stands. I sent Bridger there first, and if he's half as competent as I give him credit for, I think he should have something settled by now. We have my new knights – the warriors of peace, not war."

He stayed calm, but his veins were undulating so viciously even she could sense it. She would have loved to argue about the loyalty of knights and that man, Bridger. But she couldn't. She knew of Force bonds, and some deals were unbreakable. The stormtroopers swore by blood an oath to the dark knight of the galaxy. If they had betrayed Kylo, he would have felt it in the Force. No, he didn't feel anything. Their power lay dormant beyond the veil of their known world, tempting Ren to command it.

"Rey –"He gently turned her head with his finger." What about Snoke? What about that thing that set this all in motion? Don't you want to find out more? He came from beyond."

"Now, _this_ is a low blow from you." She stood up.

She rarely thought of those terrible past events, but if she did, her mind always wandered to that one encounter on the Star Destroyer. She felt helpless and yet so determined to find out more about him. No holorecord ever mentioned his name. She couldn't feel him in the Force, she never once dreamed about him or shared a vision.

And it wasn't for the lack of trying. Just as Kylo nursed his dirty secret shaped as a Vader's helmet, she was hiding hers. She meditated and prayed to that spirit. "Where are you?" She was kneeling at the crossroad, next to the well as the warm summer night fell on the village. "Show yourself to me. I can't feel you. You're the opposite side of me, remember," she whispered with hooded eyes. "I keep balance and you tempt. I can't see you."

He never came.

Perhaps his cunning betrayed her intent to learn more and defeat him for good. She couldn't shake a feeling of uncertainty when it came to that entity. What if another prophecy was destined to pass? Rey didn't want to make the same mistake the Skywalkers had been making for generations.

Each new in line passed the torch to their successor; but they should have cleaned their own mess first. The spirit didn't have to manifest for decades, even centuries. But the lurking evil would emerge one day, to torment the Galaxy again. If she could at least leave the record of her encounter to those who might seek it, she would have left this world content.

Rey was standing in front of the fireplace, hugging her torso. "This isn't happening because you want it so. I will go. But not for you. I'm doing it for the good of us all." She said, throwing her shoulder back.

Ben wrapped his arms around her from behind, and she leaned on his chest. "I know. I swear, Rey – this will be different. I'm not going to destroy. I want to build and create and leave that all to our…"

She let out a small sob without tears. "To whom, Ben? We don't have any children and I doubt we will. It's for the best. The Force probably decided to put an end to our lines and balance the Galaxy for good. Well, not for you – you can still have children with anot-"

He spun her around harshly. "Look at me." He pleaded. "Look at me and tell me why would I spend a year of my life buried in a hamlet with simpletons who believe that the moon is a god, if I didn't want to be with you?" She brushed the hair from his face, but that didn't appease him. "Tell me – why would I choose not to continue my legacy if not for you? You're not the only one who wants to train new Force Users, Rey. I'm the last Sith and with me, thousand years old civilization dies. But I have been living as a carpenter and a pilot here, on Varada _for you_."

He was clutching her waist and shaking her with every word. He needed her to feel that passion, if she didn't believe his words. "I chose you just as you chose me. I'm never going to leave you. If you want to make it hard for me, fine. I'll wait here for another month, or year, or ten. I'll make more domestic droids, I'll be flying Kessel run until I know every damn star by its name. But it's _our_ potential you are wasting here, not some insane plane of mine to destroy a galaxy. So, if you still thi-" Rey slammed into his lips, just to make him shut up.

Their teeth chattered together as she cut him off mid speech, but he quickly opened his mouth and let her in. He lifted her on a table while never breaking the kiss. Her ankles pushed his back closer to her, and she grinded against him, all while tearing his shirt, his pants, every piece of clothing that was keeping them apart. He tore her blouse and immediately latched onto her nipples, licking and stroking those hard buds with his tongue. He held back because he couldn't possibly believe they would fuck right there, on the table. The year in relative poverty gave him a new appreciation for the china. It was Rey who wiped the table clean, and amid the sound of clinking and shattering porcelain, brought him down on her.

"I love you." She spat. "But I hate your damn mouth."

"I know." He plunged into her without any foreplay or any kind of gentle teasing they were so used to. He would never tell her he hated something about her, not even as a joke. The skirt was still hiding her modesty, and it turned him on more than seeing her naked.

Only a string of incoherent vowels left his mouth, as he lost himself in her. She dug her ankles into his back and prodded him down, further, harder, eager to have his bulk of a body smothering her. He held onto that skirt, twirling it around his wrist, using it as leash which helped him tame her. Her breasts were bouncing to the rhythm of his pounding, and he still couldn't believe she was under him, and willing to give him so much more.

"You want me to come? Make me, then." She was barely panting, her breath refused to leave her body, but she still spoke in puns. He crashed his lips into hers while she was digging her nails into his back.

They came together, drenched in sweat, blood and spilled wine, all while he was lying on top of her on that damn table. Ben smiled and pulled white, withered flower and a lettuce leaf out of her disheveled hair, kissing her hand as she contoured his cheek. Rey finally agreed to go of her own will, not because he asked her to. She watched him build during that year together, not destroy. For all those times he tried to convince her with his words, the one time he didn't sealed the deal. He convinced her with his actions.

And Ben spent that year with villagers who had never heard of the Force, let alone challenged him in it. But he chose that life, because his place was where she laid her head to sleep, nowhere else. That kind of trust couldn't be broken.

They made a choice, the most important step for the entire galaxy.

The Force demanded balance. Together, they stepped back, but perhaps the time had come for them to step ahead, into the unknown. Rey knew he would never give up power, and she no longer wanted him to. She wasn't some artificial ray of light, and he wasn't a monster in the dark. They were equals, lovers, fighters; a pale boy and a feisty girl who loved each other through it all.

THE END

* * *

 **A/N I TOLD you to trust me. xD That's it folks. Hopefully, it was all worth it. This was so damn emotional to write. I think this last chapter is the purest representation of what they had gone through in Aphelion, and what they had become, not only as a couple but as individuals. I chose each word like a gospel in this last one. I can't thank you enough for supporting me and commenting. I would have never gotten through certain passages if it hadn't been for your constant reviews. Even a few words can arm a writer with such passion to continue. I also want to sincerely thank you for the positive experience I got from writing my first SW fanfiction, all your words have been so nice and encouraging. I'll miss my gang of the most amazing people, you all know who you are. I poured my soul into this, and I'm happy to share it with you all. I don't know if I'll write an epilogue, or a sequel. It kinda feels right to leave them here, on the verge of the unknown, doesn't it? Feel free to share an opinion on this. P.S. If you didn't catch it by chance - white flower guys. It turned white so… they really have it all, even though they don't know it yet.**


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